No. 24 Colorado walked into Waco and took control early, then held on late for a 25-19, 25-19, 11-25, 25-23 win over No. 21 Baylor on Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
The Buffs were sharp from the opening serve, winning the first two sets without ever trailing and building a cushion that Baylor could not erase. Colorado piled up 39 kills and six service aces across those opening frames while limiting the Bears to a .148 hitting percentage. Baylor answered with a runaway third set, but Colorado steadied itself in a tense fourth to finish off the upset.
Ines Losada delivered one of the biggest performances of the day. The sophomore, making her first start of the season, matched a career high with five aces and added 10 kills and two blocks.
Setter Jenna Ylivainio also hit a milestone, reaching 500 career assists on her 23rd assist of the match in just her 14th game. Colorado’s balance showed throughout, with two Buffs finishing in double-digit kills and six players recording blocks.
"It's a big win for our season. We've been on the edge of doing a lot of good things this season and it's good to see it pay off for us," Head Coach Jesse Mahoney said.
"Baylor's really good. They made a ton of great plays.
I was proud of our team showing some resilience in that fourth set."
Colorado set the tone immediately in the first set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead behind back-to-back aces from Losada. The Buffs kept pressing, with a kill from middle blocker Cayla Payne fueling a 5-0 run and Losada later adding a kill and a solo block to push the margin to 12-6.
Burilovic chipped in two kills before Losada landed her third ace, stretching the lead to seven. Baylor got within four, but Colorado slammed the door with kills from Maria Splawska and Losada before Lily Dwinell finished the set with two straight kills.
The second set followed a similar script. Losada kept the pressure on from the service line as Colorado opened with a 3-0 burst, highlighted by a block from Splawska and Burilovic and Losada’s fourth ace.
Ylivainio set up Burilovic for a kill as the Buffs built a 4-2 lead, then Colorado’s blocking came to the front again. Burilovic and Splawska combined on the fifth block of the night to make it 10-7, and the Buffs kept the advantage from there.
A Burilovic kill and Baylor errors helped CU reach 15 first, and Ylivainio added a solo block after the timeout. Payne followed with another solo block to make it 18-13, and Colorado closed it out with kills from Splawska and Dwinell and Losada’s fifth ace.
Baylor finally found life in the third. After a brief exchange early, Colorado errors opened the door for a 4-0 Bears run and a 12-6 lead. The Buffs never recovered from that stretch, managing only two kills as Baylor claimed its lone set of the afternoon.
Colorado regrouped quickly in the fourth, and the finish was tight all the way. The Buffs grabbed three of the first four points, including a Burilovic kill, then used a 4-0 run sparked by Losada to grab momentum.
Ylivainio’s ace tied the set at 10, and Splawska’s kill nudged Colorado ahead 12-11. Burilovic’s 10th kill of the match kept the Buffs in front 15-14 at the break.
Neither side could create much separation after that, though Splawska’s block helped Colorado edge ahead 19-17. Burilovic later delivered a kill to make it 23-22, and Colorado reached match point on a Baylor attack error before Losada ended the final rally with a powerful kill.
Mahoney singled out Losada afterward, saying, "She is feast or famine, fire and ice. When she's going, we try to ride that wave. That last serve punctuated it for us."
Burilovic finished with 13 kills, nine digs and three blocks, while Splawska added six kills and seven blocks. Ylivainio posted 29 assists, five digs and three blocks.
The win marked Colorado’s first victory over Baylor in Waco since 2017. It was also the Buffs’ first ranked conference win of the season, their second upset of a ranked opponent in four sets this year after beating USC on Sept. 12, and their seventh straight win when taking the first two sets. Colorado is now 3-1 in four-set matches.
The fourth set alone told the story of how hard the finish was: it was tied 13 times and featured three lead changes before the Buffs finally broke through.
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