The Colorado volleyball team is off to the best start in the history of the program.

And the Buffs haven't even played a game in Boulder yet.

Pi'i Aiu, whose team is 6-0 after winning tournaments in Mississippi and Texas, is obviously very pleased with the results so far. But the long-time CU head coach understands his senior-laden squad's level of play will have to rise dramatically this week during the Colorado Invitational.

The Buffs host 21st-ranked Colorado State tonight on the brand new floor at the Coors Events Center. They will face No. 8 Florida on Thursday and finish the tournament against North Carolina on Saturday. All three home matches will start at 6:30 p.m.

"Winning is a learned behavior," Aiu said. "And we're kind of relearning that behavior."

CU is coming off a difficult 6-22 season, but those painful memories have faded somewhat after cruising to tournament titles at the Mississippi State Classic and Islander Beach Invitational. The Buffs have a pair of true road wins against Mississippi State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

"The fact that we went on the road and beat two teams on their home court that are pretty good is very encouraging," Aiu said. "We're 6-0 away from home and that's all good. But we are used to playing a real tough non-conference schedule and that's what we've got coming up."

The Rams (5-1) have won four consecutive matches against CU and have a 20-11 advantage in the series. Last season CSU swept the Buffs 30-28, 30-27, 30-28 in Fort Collins.

"CSU is a real good team. They're going to be a top-15 team this year and would have already cracked the top 15 if they hadn't lost to Pepperdine," Aiu said. "Mekana Barnes is one of top middle (blockers) in country. For her height, inch for inch, she's probably the best. ... They're going to present some problems for us, but that's what we need right now."

Lauren Schaefer was named the most valuable player at the Mississippi State Classic and leads the team with a 51.2 attack percentage. Alex Buth was the MVP at the Islander Beach Invitational and leads the team with 67 kills. Perhaps even better news for the Buffs is the fact that Amber Sutherland (39 kills), who sat out last season after shoulder surgery, is starting to regain her all-conference form.

"Our seniors are doing a nice job both in their play and leading the team. They're leading by committee by now," Aiu said. "Amber played her way into being better this past weekend. She hasn't played volleyball in just over a year and she's playing her way back into getting better and better."

Hempen's Buffs

hit the road

The CU soccer team will take a three-game win streak on the road when the Buffs play at Mississippi on Friday and at Memphis on Sunday.

Bill Hempen's Buffs are coming off an impressive 4-0 victory over James Madison on Sunday at Prentup Field to improve to 3-1-1 (1-0 Big 12).

Senior Amber Bettenhausen scored two goals to lead the way. Alex Cousins and Kelly Menachof each added goals off penalty kicks.

The Buffs have scored 11 goals in their last three games after tallying just one goal during a 0-1-1 start to the season.

"We've been practicing a lot and we're a lot calmer around the goal than we were during the first few games," Bettenhausen said. "Everyone really did a great job for us today and we hope to keep this momentum going into next weekend."

CU's match in Oxford, Miss., will begin at 6 p.m. and the match at Memphis will begin at noon.

Ole Miss (1-2-2) is coming off its first victory of the season, a 1-0 shutout of Southern Miss on Sunday. The Rebels lost 2-1 to Memphis, which hosts another Big 12 foe in Oklahoma on Friday, earlier this season.