Starting a big week, the University of Northern Colorado volleyball team played well at times and in stretches against nationally ranked University of Colorado in a late-season nonconference match.
Buffs’ pin attacker Ana Burilović was better Tuesday night at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.
The 6-foot-1 junior from Croatia pounded out a near-season high in kills, helping the No. 23-ranked Buffs to a five-set win in front of nearly 2,000 fans.
Burilović recorded 30 kills on 73 total attacks for a .329 hitting percentage, and CU survived the close match 22-25, 28-26, 25-15, 21-25 and 15-8 for its fifth-straight win.
CU coach Jesse Mahoney said Burilović was the difference on a night when the Buffs didn’t give UNC the respect it deserves.
“That’s a good team,” Mahoney said of the Bears. “Ana was really good. Frankly, they put a ton of pressure on us. Had a really good game plan. They ball handled. Their middles (Isabel Bennett and Zoe Gibbs) scored really well. We got pushed to the limit, for sure.”
Members of the University of Colorado volleyball team celebrate a point during the first set of a nonconference match against the University of Northern Colorado on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. CU won in five sets. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter).The Bears and Buffs both return to their own conferences for the rest of the season. UNC (9-13 overall) is 6-3 in the Big Sky Conference and in a four-way tie for second place with two Big Sky home matches later this week. UNC lost its last match 3-0 to Northern Arizona in a battle for first place in the conference.
The Bears host Montana State and Montana on Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon, respectively, at Bank of Colorado Arena. UNC split its matches with the Bobcats and Grizzlies on a trip to Montana earlier this month. The Bears beat Montana in Missoula and lost to Montana State two days later in Bozeman.
Bella Van Lannen and Alayna Tessena both had 13 kills for UNC. Bennett added 11 kills and Gibbs and Brynn Reines each had 10. Setter Nerea Alvarez Jorge had a double-double with 43 assists and a season and match-high 18 digs.
University of Northern Colorado volleyball player Alayna Tessena waits for the start of a point during a nonconference match against the University of Colorado on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. Tessena had 13 kills in CU's 5-set win. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter)“We’re close, we’re close, we’re close, we’re not pulling out these tough matches against ranked opponents,” UNC head coach Lyndsey Oates said after the match. “We’re doing a lot of good things, we’re just not doing them consistently enough.”
Oates said the Bears played their best volleyball of the season at times against the Buffs, and at times they played the worst they played all year. The defense didn’t come up with digs when needed late.
Oates called the match a momentum match with teams going on runs of points. The competition will help UNC in its Big Sky matches this week.
University of Northern Colorado students cheer for the Bears' volleyball team against the University of Colorado during a nonconference match Tuesday, Oct 28, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. CU won in five sets. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter)“There’s no better preparation for Montana State-Montana than playing a ranked opponent,” Oates said. “It’s way better than any 2-hour practice we could’ve gotten today.”
CU, 19-3 overall, and a member of the Big 12 Conference, hosts conference rival No. 18 Baylor on Friday evening at the CU Events Center in Boulder. The Buffs then play other conference matches at Kansas State and Kansas and against TCU into early November.
CU is 9-1 in the Big 12, trailing only conference undefeated Arizona State (8-0). The sixth-ranked Sun Devils were eighth when they beat the Buffs 3-1 Oct. 10 in Tempe, Arizona. CU started its five-match win streak five days later against Utah.
Arizona State (17-2 overall) plays at CU on Saturday, Nov. 15.
“We’ve got a ton of top 25 matches coming up,” Mahoney said. “That’s why we’re here, that’s why we do what we do. We’re heading into the NCAA Tournament and we’re going to see teams like that in the first, second, third round. So, we gotta get ready for it.”
University of Northern Colorado volleyball players Bella Van Lannen, left, and Zoe Gibbs, right, go up for a block on a kill attempt by the University Colorado during the first set of a nonconference match Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. CU won in five sets. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter)The CU-UNC match was played Tuesday night because the schools couldn’t find a date to play in the nonconference season earlier in the year.
Mahoney said the match was important to play because of the quality of programs in this region of the U.S. with schools in Colorado and the University of Wyoming.
“And I want to play every one of them,” Mahoney said. “I think that if I was at Northern Colorado, I would really want to play Colorado. They came to us last year, and I have a hard time saying, ‘hey, I’m not going to come back.’”
UNC beat CU last year in five sets in Boulder to snap a four-match losing streak to the Buffs.
Mahoney added it’s a good match with UNC, and facing the Bears will prepare CU for future matches this season.
“Lyndsey does a fantastic job, year in and year out,” the coach said. “They find really interesting ways to get their middles the ball and we didn’t make adjustments. We yelled about adjustments, but we didn’t make adjustments.”
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