Bears Battle Back, Fall Short Against Colorado State

Tuesday, September 1

Fort Collins, Colo.

6 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

0-2,0-0Big Sky

Colorado State

2-1,0-0Pac-12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Northern Colo.	22	23	25	19	1
Colorado St.	25	25	22	25	3

Jesus Ayala | UNC Athletics

9/1/2026 8:46:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Elian Soto, Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Northern Colorado Volleyball battled until the final point Tuesday night, mounting a late rally against in-state rival Colorado State before ultimately falling 3-1 (22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25) inside Moby Arena.

The Bears showed plenty of fight throughout the four-set battle, pushing the Rams to the wire in each of the opening three sets. After dropping the first two frames, UNC responded with a strong third set, using a late push to force a fourth set and keep the match alive.

Colorado State opened the fourth set with momentum, but the Bears refused to go quietly. UNC continued to battle and put together a late rally, cutting into the Rams' advantage and creating a tense finish. Despite the comeback effort, Colorado State was able to hold on and close out the match.

Offensively, Leila Ballard and Gillian Walton each posted new career highs in kills, leading the Bears with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Walton added eight blocks, while Ballard contributed five digs in the effort.

Addison Roark also turned in an efficient night at the net, finishing with career high eight kills on just 14 attacks for a .429 hitting percentage. Summer Snead added eight kills and a team-best 10 blocks, while setter Nerea Alvarez-Jorge recorded 37 assists and eight digs.

The Bears finished the night with 47 kills and 31 total blocks.

UP NEXT: UNC Volleyball will head to Boulder to compete in the Colorado Classic hosted by Colorado. The Bears are set to face New Mexico on Friday at 3 p.m. inside CU Events Center.

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