No. 23 Colorado volleyball will give fans their first look at the 2026 team on Saturday, when the Buffaloes hold their Black and Gold scrimmage at noon inside the CU Events Center. The event is free and open to the public.
The scrimmage arrives with head coach Jesse Mahoney heading into his 11th season in Boulder after a 23-9 campaign and a 12-6 finish in conference play last year. It also offers a chance to see how Colorado’s offseason work has translated before the real matches begin.
“Practices have been going really well,” Mahoney said. “There's a lot of competition in the gym. Even with as many returners as we have, we have some young players who are really stepping up, really athletic, and we feel like we're really deep in every position.”
Colorado’s 2026 roster brings back much of the group’s leadership and adds six newcomers. Senior Avery Bolles said the continuity has helped shape the team’s identity.
“We have a lot of returners. We've all been here for a long time,” Bolles said.
“I think that's something that makes our team so close, that we have a really low rate of leaving. We want to build that culture of a family and really work together toward our common goal.”
The Buffs are also bringing back five of their seven starters from last season, including leading scorer Ana Burilovic. The AVCA All-American paced the Big 12 last season with 4.71 kills and 5.47 points per set, and she and senior Cayla Payne were both named to the 2026 Big 12 Preseason Team.
Senior Sydney Jordan said the group is not treating this season like a simple continuation of the last one.
“We are going to be different,” Jordan said. “We grew so much from our sophomore to our junior year, and we're only going to grow from our junior to our senior year.
I think every single one of us has made massive strides in the offseason, and we have some incredible new additions that I feel like no one even knows about yet. We're really excited, and ultimately we know that the product is going to be good if we put our minds to it.”
Colorado opens the 2026 season Aug. 28 at the Buffs Classic, hosting CSUN, Denver and Central Arkansas.
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