No. 23 Colorado Volleyball dug itself out of an 0-2 hole and turned Sunday afternoon into a comeback at the CU Events Center, reverse-sweeping Kansas State in five sets.
The Buffaloes dropped the first two frames before flipping the match with wins in the final three, 21-25, 26-28, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10. The result moved Colorado to 11-4 overall and 3-3 in Big 12 play, while Kansas State fell to 9-5 and 2-4 in the league.
Head coach Jessie Mahoney pointed to the shift after the early deficit.
"I felt like offensively we did enough most of the day to win the match, and it was sets three, four and five when we started to slow them down offensively," Head Coach Jessie Mahoney said. "It was nice for us to show some grit after being down 0-2."
Colorado got key production throughout the lineup, with pin attacker Ana Burilovic finishing with 25 kills and five digs. Setter Jenna Ylivainio continued her steady run with 46 assists, her 16th straight match with double-digit assists, and added five digs and three kills.
Middle blocker Cayla Payne posted 10 kills and nine blocks, while Ines Losada matched her career and season high with five aces and added 11 kills. Libero Tinos Munar Galmes chipped in 17 digs, her 11th match with double-digit digs.
The third set marked a milestone for Payne, who recorded her second block of the match early in the frame to reach 400 career blocks. Losada later delivered her fifth ace of the match in the fourth set, tying both her career and season highs.
Colorado’s push started in the third after Kansas State had taken control of the match with wins in the opening two sets. The Wildcats closed out the first 25-21 after Colorado had tied things at 18-18 on a kill and back-to-back aces from Losada. In the second, the Buffaloes built leads of 5-2 and later 15-11, but Kansas State forced extra points and edged away with a 28-26 win.
From there, Colorado steadied itself. The Buffaloes opened the third with back-to-back kills from Burilovic and Payne to grab an 8-5 lead, then used an ace from Losada and more Burilovic offense to close it out 25-22. They repeated the formula in the fourth, weathering an early Kansas State burst before Losada’s serving run helped CU seize control and finish the set 25-22.
In the fifth, the Buffaloes never let the Wildcats pull away. Losada sparked a key stretch with a kill and solo block, Payne kept the energy up with a big swing, and Colorado finished the match with a block-heavy run that pushed it to match point. Burilovic then sealed the reverse sweep with the final kill.
Burilovic also had a message for the home crowd.
"I feel like we see more and more people each game, so I'm really happy that the turnout is great. We get to know the fans a little bit, and the kids are watching and telling us all these great things, like all the girls want to play volleyball. I think it's really good to see that."
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