Colorado has had two weeks to stare at the eight-point run that broke the first meeting. BYU has had two weeks to remember the first set it lost.
The ranked rematch starts at 7 p.m. Mountain on Thursday, Nov. 5, at the CU Events Center in Boulder. ESPN+ has the stream, StatBroadcast has the live numbers, and BYU’s stable schedule ID is 25244.
No. 8 BYU arrives 18-1, 10-0 in the Big 12 and riding 15 straight wins. No. 25 Colorado is 16-5 and 7-4 in league play. The Buffaloes have won three in a row since BYU beat them 3-1 in Provo on Oct. 22, and they are 11-1 at home.
This is not a rerun with a different address. Colorado’s block now leads the Big 12. BYU’s offense still leads the league in hitting. The first match supplied a usable plan for both sides, which means Thursday should be decided by who can alter that plan first.
BYU-Colorado watch information
| Match detail | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Match | No. 8 BYU at No. 25 Colorado |
| Date | Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026 |
| First serve | 7 p.m. MST / 9 p.m. EST |
| Venue | CU Events Center, Boulder, Colorado |
| TV/stream | ESPN+ match stream (subscription may be required) |
| Live stats | Official StatBroadcast route |
| Tickets | Colorado match tickets |
| Radio | No official radio listing published |
| Permanent BYU link | BYU volleyball schedule |
BYU’s event record lists 2026-11-06 at 02:00 UTC, which converts to 7 p.m. MST Thursday in Boulder and Utah. BYU’s preview, Colorado’s preview and both schedule listings agree on the start, venue and ESPN+ coverage.
Neither school has published a radio option. The direct ESPN player can redirect by device or subscription status. If that temporary link changes, use the permanent BYU volleyball schedule for the official event route rather than an unofficial stream listing.
The first match gave Colorado a real answer, then BYU took it away
The 3-1 final from Provo hides the best Colorado played against BYU.
The Buffaloes won the first set 25-23 with 19 kills and .371 hitting. They led 10-6 in the second, cut a six-point third-set deficit to 17-16 and held a 13-11 edge in the fourth. BYU did not spend the whole night in control.
Colorado kept several front-row options alive early. Ines Losada found space at the pin, while Cayla Payne and Maria Splawska kept BYU from releasing its block toward Ana Burilovic too soon. That width forced the Cougars to read before moving, and Colorado took advantage whenever the first close was late.
BYU changed the match by putting more work on Burilovic before she attacked. The Cougars served toward Colorado’s volume scorer, narrowed the Buffaloes’ available offense and gave their block a cleaner picture. Colorado hit minus-.107 in the third set as BYU closed the frame on an 8-0 run.
The final receipt was sharp: BYU won 23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18, hit .327 and posted 15 blocks. Colorado had 50 kills, only three fewer than BYU, but needed 21 more attacks and committed nine more attack errors.
Colorado’s first assignment is keeping Burilovic involved without letting BYU turn every serve in her direction into a predictable next ball.
Colorado’s three-match response has been built at the net
The Buffaloes did not drift after leaving Provo. They beat Utah 3-1, survived Cincinnati in five and swept Texas Tech.
Colorado’s official preview puts its block at 3.00 per set, first in the Big 12 and fourth nationally. Payne averages 1.35 blocks per set. Against Texas Tech, she had six blocks and 10 kills, while Burilovic recorded 13 kills and 12 digs.
That combination matters more than either line by itself. Payne can score or close in the middle, so BYU cannot assign all of its attention to Burilovic. Burilovic can still carry a large pin workload, but Colorado is strongest when she is not forced to beat a settled double block on every important rally.
Jenna Ylivainio is the connector. Colorado credits its setter with 769 assists and 9.61 per set. She has reached at least 30 assists in 18 matches. If the first pass keeps her at the net, she can make BYU’s middle wait and send the ball toward whichever edge opens.
Colorado’s home record adds another layer. The Buffaloes are 11-1 at the CU Events Center. That does not make the floor magical, but it does remove the Smith Fieldhouse crowd and give Colorado its normal serving background, sight lines and routine. A team that led in all four sets in Provo does not need a complete reinvention. It needs those early leads to survive the middle of each frame.
BYU’s block has to win without guessing
Kelli Jo Burgess leads the country at 1.86 blocks per set. Brooke Hardy leads the Big 12 with a .427 hitting percentage and ranks second in conference play with 0.56 aces per set. Those numbers meet in the same tactical problem.
Hardy’s serve can pull Colorado out of system. Burgess can then close against an obvious lane. That is BYU’s cleanest version of the matchup.
The danger comes when a blocker tries to skip the first step. If Burgess leans toward Burilovic before Ylivainio commits, Payne has room in the middle. If the Cougars remain planted inside for too long, Burilovic gets a cleaner swing at the pin. BYU needs its serve to narrow the choices before the block declares one.
The first meeting showed how well that structure can work. Burgess finished with nine blocks, but BYU did not reach 15 through one middle alone. Sophia Callahan had five block assists. Hardy and Claire Little Chambers added five and four total blocks. Elli Mortensen had three.
That spread is the reason Colorado cannot simply wait for Burgess to rotate out. BYU can build a useful block in several front-row combinations. The test is whether those combinations travel to Boulder with the same timing.
A stuff is not the only successful result. A controlled touch that lets the back row set another attack can be just as damaging across several rotations. BYU had a 46-31 dig edge in Provo because its floor defense worked behind the hands at the net.
The quality of the first block touch says more than the block total. If Colorado’s attacks are popping up inside the 10-foot line, BYU is shaping the rally. If they are ricocheting into the seats, the Buffaloes are using the hands instead of being stopped by them.
BYU’s latest win exposed a different way to score
The Cougars did not overpower Utah with a gaudy attack percentage last Friday. They hit .219 and still won in four sets.
Four BYU hitters reached double-digit kills. Hardy hit .529, Anna Blamires hit .471, and BYU won the service line 11 aces to two. The Cougars could survive a modest offensive night because they created pressure before the swing and spread the finishing work.
That is useful evidence before Colorado. The Buffaloes can block. BYU should expect some clean-looking attacks to come back and some pin swings to lose their angle. The answer cannot be harder high balls into the same formed hands.
Alex Bower and Kaylie Kofe have to keep the middle credible, use the right side and rebuild after a covered attack. Mortensen and Little Chambers can carry volume, but the first match turned when Hardy punished every late middle decision. She finished with 11 kills, no errors and a .786 percentage.
Colorado knows that number now. The Buffaloes will not treat Hardy as an afterthought. That attention can open another lane if BYU passes well enough to use it.
The Cougars’ best offense is not one hitter winning a matchup. It is a setter making Colorado choose which matchup it can afford to lose.
Three checkpoints should reveal the rematch
The first six Colorado serves
BYU’s passing will decide whether its .302 season attack looks like the fourth-best mark in the country or collapses into predictable outside balls. Colorado does not need six aces. It needs enough movement to keep Bower and Kofe from holding Payne in the middle.
Burilovic’s workload before her swing
Count how often BYU serves toward Burilovic and how often Colorado removes her from first contact. She still produced 13 kills in Provo, but 11 errors on 38 attempts reduced that volume to .053 hitting. Colorado’s counter should be visible in its receive pattern before the first attack lands.
The score when each set reaches 20
Colorado had leads in every set at Smith Fieldhouse and won only the first. BYU’s late points came from different places: service pressure in the second, the block in the third and .467 hitting in the fourth.
If Thursday reaches 20-all, watch which setter can still sell the middle. The side forced into an obvious high ball will be asking its pin to beat a fully formed block with the set already balanced on two or three swings.
Why this match matters beyond the ranking numbers
BYU is the Big 12’s only unbeaten team in conference play. A road win over Colorado would move the Cougars to 11-0 with seven league matches left and complete a regular-season sweep of a ranked opponent.
Colorado is chasing a different receipt. The Buffaloes already proved they can take a set and hold leads against BYU. Their three-match winning streak says the Provo loss did not linger. Beating the league leader at home would turn a close first meeting into a split and tighten the race behind BYU.
The rankings make the matchup easy to sell. The volleyball makes it worth watching. The Big 12’s best hitting team is visiting the conference’s best blocking team, and both have a complete four-set scouting file from 14 days earlier.
What comes next
BYU continues its road trip at Iowa State at 1 p.m. Mountain on Saturday, Nov. 7, with ESPN+ and StatBroadcast coverage listed on the volleyball schedule. Colorado travels to West Virginia on Sunday.
For the first meeting, read our pregame block-versus-balance guide and the 15-block recap. The Utah recap explains how BYU used an 11-2 ace edge in its latest win. The volleyball hub keeps the roster, schedule and results together.
Colorado knows the serve is coming toward its busiest hitter. BYU knows the Buffaloes can win the first contact and lead deep into a set. Thursday is about which team prepared a second answer.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics event 25244 for the stable event ID, UTC start, Boulder location, CU Events Center venue, away designation, conference status and scheduled state.
- BYU Athletics: No. 8 BYU visits Colorado and Iowa State for the ESPN+ and StatBroadcast routes, current records, rankings, 15-match winning streak, national rates, player production, series history and next match.
- Colorado Athletics: No. 25 Colorado seeks fourth straight win for independent confirmation of the 7 p.m. Mountain start, venue, stream, 11-1 home record, block rate, current player totals and three-match streak.
- BYU’s first Colorado recap, official box score and finalized WMT match for the first meeting’s set sequence, team totals and player lines.
- Colorado’s 2026 cumulative statistics for Burilovic’s workload, Ylivainio’s assists, Payne’s production and Colorado’s team attack totals.
- BYU’s official color guide and CU Boulder’s official color guide for the palettes used in the original matchup art.
- BYU Sport Nuts: first watch guide, first-match recap, Utah recap, volleyball schedule and results.
