The Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team is the intercollegiate women's volleyball team of the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

. They compete in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

and play their home games at the

CU Events Center The CU Events Center is an 11,064-seat multi-purpose arena in the Western United States, on the main campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Opened in 1979, it is home to the Colorado Buffaloes men's and women's basketball te ...

History

The volleyball program at the University of Colorado began in 1986. The Buffaloes' first head coach was Brad Saindon who was replaced by Mike McLean after three seasons. In McLean's first season, Colorado made its first NCAA tournament appearance. Partway through the 1990 season, Saindon returned as Colorado's head coach. In his second tenure, Saindon led the Buffaloes to two Big Eight championships, two in the tournament and one in the regular season; six NCAA tournament and two semifinal appearances. Pi'i Aiu took over as head coach starting in 1997. He became the winningest volleyball coach at Colorado, leading the Buffaloes to a 22–9 record and a semifinal appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Buffaloes made nine NCAA tournament appearances during his tenure. Aiu was dismissed as Colorado's head coach on January 12, 2009, following two straight losing seasons. Following Aiu's dismissal, Liz Kritza was hired to become the head coach of the Buffaloes. She led Colorado to two NCAA tournament appearances. Despite the Buffaloes' record of 57–41 in her last three seasons, Kritza was dismissed after the conclusion of the 2015 season. Jesse Mahoney became the head coach of the Buffaloes on December 17, 2015. As of the 2022 season, he has led Colorado to another semifinal appearance and three NCAA tournament appearances.

Head coaches

*Brad Saindon (1986–1988, 1990–1996) *Mike McLean (1989–1990) *Pi'i Aiu (1997–2008) *Liz Kritza (2009–2015) *Jesse Mahoney (2016–present)

Season-by-season results

Postseason

The Colorado Buffaloes have made 21 NCAA tournament appearances, including four regional semifinal appearances. The Buffaloes have a record of 14–20 in the postseason.

Facilities

The Buffaloes play their home games at the

on the campus of the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

. Previously, they played in the

Balch Fieldhouse Balch Fieldhouse is a 4,000, at one point seating 7,000, seat multi-purpose arena in Boulder, Colorado. It opened in 1937. It was home to the University of Colorado Buffaloes basketball teams until the CU Events Center opened in 1979. The Fiel ...

from 1986 to most of the 1987 season.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Big 12 Conference women's volleyball navbox 1986 establishments in Colorado Women's sports in Colorado Volleyball clubs established in 1986