CANYON, Texas – Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball opened the
Jordan Bruere era here Friday morning with a hard-fought 3-0 setback (25-18, 28-26, 25-18) to Oklahoma Baptist in the opening match of the BritKare Lady Buff Classic held at the West Texas A&M Fieldhouse.
Bruere, who played for the Pack from 2012-15, was named the program's head coach on March 16, 2025 after spending the previous two seasons at Western Colorado University. Friday's match was the 2025 season opener for both squads.
The Pack (0-1) was paced by a match-high 12 kill performance from senior outside hitter
Caelyn Gunn (Denton, Texas/Arkansas-Fort Smith), while junior right side hitter
Lilly Zwart (Nelson, New Zealand/Western Nebraska CC) added nine kills in the loss. Both Gunn and Zwart were six of the nine players that made their Pack debuts in Friday's season opener.
Junior setter
Elena Stankovic (Cajetina, Serbia/Barton County CC) opened her Pack career with a double-double of 29 assists and 11 digs and added four blocks, while junior libero
Chinaru Inoue (Tenri, Japan/Western Colorado) tallied 11 digs and junior middle hitter
Finja Schul (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany/Western Nebraska CC) had five blocks and added three kills.
For the match, the Pack were outhit, .239 to .196 as OBU held a 44-36 edge in kills and both teams recorded 44 digs. The Pack was outblocked 10-7 by the Bison.
OBU (1-0) had a balanced offensive attack as five players tallied six or more kills with Rylee Unruh leading the way with nine, while Lauren Safrit added eight kills and hit .261. OBU also held an 8-2 edge in aces for the match.
Set 1: The opening set was close early on as OBU jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but the Pack used a 6-3 run to tie the set at 9. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from sophomore middle blocker
Andi Nothdurft (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) and senior outside hitter
Taylor Cary (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Rock Canyon). The Bison, though, responded with a 6-1 run to take a 15-10 lead. The Pack came back and scored five of the next seven points to pull within 17-15 following a Gunn kill. OBU would answer back as they closed the set on an 8-3 run to post the 25-18 win. Neither team hit well in the opening set as OBU hit .114 and had five aces and three blocks, while the Pack hit .091 and had two blocks and no aces.
Set 2: In the second set, the Pack outhit the Bison, .167 to .162 as both teams had five blocks and two aces. Schul and Stankovic combined for five blocks in the set for the Pack. OBU scored the opening three points of the set, before the Pack responded by scoring seven of the next 10 points to take a 7-5 lead. The Pack lead eventually grew to 11-9, before OBU used a 6-3 run to tie the set at 14-all. After the two teams traded points thanks to errors to force another tie at 15, OBU would score seven of the next 10 points to take a 22-18 lead. The Pack, though, answered back with a 7-2 run that was capped by an ace from Stankovic to take a 25-24 lead. After the Bison scored two straight points to take a 26-25 lead, Schul recorded a solo block to retie the set at 26. But, OBU would close out the set by scoring the final two points to post a 28-26 lead and take a 2-0 advantage in the match. Gunn and Zwart each had four kills for the Pack in the set, which featured 16 ties and 12 lead changes.
Set 3: Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Pack opened the third set by scoring seven of the first 12 points to take an early 7-5 lead. The lead was shortlived as OBU rallied to score eight of the next 10 points to take a 13-9 lead. After a kill by Cary stopped the OBU run, the Bison used a 5-3 run to push its lead to 18-13. Back-to-back kills from Gunn and Schul moved the Pack within three at 18-15, OBU would close the set by scoring seven of the set's final 10 points to post the 25-18 win and cap the sweep. In the set, the Pack hit .333 with five kills from Gunn, while OBU hit .472 and got five kills from Lillian Noble.
The Pack will continue play in the two-event hosted by West Texas A&M as they face eighth-ranked West Texas A&M at 12 p.m. MT Friday afternoon, before concluding the event on Saturday, Sept. 6 with a 10 a.m. MT match against No. 8 West Texas A&M and a 2:30 p.m. MT match against Texas A&M-International.
