University of Colorado volleyball coach Liz Kritza wasn't familiar with the look of the error-prone players that hit the Coors Events Center floor during CU's season-opening loss Friday night.
After a thrilling five-set victory Saturday afternoon against No. 9 Florida State — an odyssey that included early injury adversity for the Buffaloes in addition to a gritty comeback in the decisive fifth set — Kritza gratefully enjoyed a completely different take.
"Now that's my team," she said. "They were back."
Indeed it was a far more energetic club CU boasted Saturday on the second day of the Omni Classic, despite the wind being taken out of the Buffs' sails in the early moments when sophomore Joslyn Hayes was carried from the floor due to a right ankle injury.