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CSU Travels to SDSU and UNLV
Rams enter week 18-4, 9-0 MWC.
Oct. 28, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado State volleyball takes the road for the final two matches of the conference season away from Moby Arena. The Rams are 9-0 and take on San Diego State (4-4) and UNLV (2-6). The match against UNLV on Saturday will be played in the Thomas & Mack Center and is a 6:00 p.m. start. Last season, the Rams split the trip, defeating UNLV in four and losing to San Diego State in three on its senior night. Downs Helps Down Utes: Behind a solid performance by sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs, 18th-ranked Colorado State won a four-game match over Utah in Moby Arena to remain perfect in Mountain West Conference action. Downs led the team with a .478 hitting percentage off a season-high 13 kills and she notched a career-high eight blocks, including four solo stops in the win. Junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley led the team with 16 kills, while junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer added 15 and sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers tallied 10 kills. Junior libero Lindsey Kerr led the team with 12 digs and freshman defensive specialist Kristen Karlik tied her career high with nine digs for the second match in a row. Sarauer also led all players with three aces and junior setter Melissa Courtney had 54 assists. Rams Remain Perfect: A balanced attack led the 18th-ranked Colorado State volleyball team to a three-game sweep over BYU, 30-19, 30-20, 31-29. All five Ram hitters tallied hitting percentages above .300 as the team hit .364 for the match. Tess Rogers led the way, hitting .458 and notching a match-high 13 kills. Becky Sarauer added 12 kills and a .346 hitting percentage, while both junior middle blockers -- Bri Frech and Katie Jo Shirley -- added 11 kills. Frech also led the team with three aces and Melissa Courtney led all players with four blocks and 46 assists. Lindsey Kerr had a match-high 11 digs and Kristen Karlik tied her career high with nine digs. Both the Rams and Cougars had eight blocks in the match but the Rams won in the digs column, 42-36 and had 59 kills, compared to 41 for the Cougars. The Doctor Is In: Dre Downs earned Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honors. Downs helped pace the Rams to victories over the second and third place teams in the league. Downs recorded several critical points in the 3-1 victory over Utah en route to a season-high 13 kills and career-high eight blocks, including four solos. In game four, Downs rallied the Rams from a 28-29 deficit by recording two blocks and a kill, accounting for the final three points in the match. Downs posted a match-high .478 (13-2-23). In a three-game win over BYU, Downs hit .353 (8-2-17) and tallied two blocks. For the week, Downs averaged 3.0 kills, .57 assists, .14 digs and 1.43 blocks per game, while hitting .425 (20-4-40). Rare Occurrence: On Saturday night against BYU, all five starting hitters for the Rams hit above .300 for the match. The last time that happened was against Cal State Northridge on Sept. 5 when the team combined for a .435 hitting efficiency. Four of the five hitters also had at least 11 kills in the match, marking the sixth time this season -- and only the second time in a three-game match -- four Rams have hit double figures in the kills column. Heating Up: In three of the last four matches, four Rams have tallied double figures in the kills column. Against New Mexico, Becky Sarauer (14), sophomore outside hitter Casey Bauer (11), Katie Jo Shirley (11) and Bri Frech (10) all had double figures. On Saturday against BYU, Tess Rogers (13), Sarauer (12), Frech (11) and Shirley (11) all had over 10 kills and against Utah, Shirley (16), Sarauer (15), Dre Downs (13) and Rogers (10) were all in double figures. In Triplicate: In the last eight matches and in 11 of the last 12 matches, at least one player on the team has tallied three or more service aces. The lone exception was at BYU in the opening conference match. The Rams lead the league in aces with 2.17 in conference action and have three players ranked in the top 10 in that category (Bri Frech, Melissa Courtney, Becky Sarauer). Snapped: Utah is the only team in the conference to win a game against the Rams this season, and they did so in game three of both matches. The Rams won 21 consecutive games between those games, which ties for the sixth longest winning streak in school history. Miss Rogers Neighborhood: Three times in her career, Tess Rogers has recorded two solo blocks in a match and all three have come against the University of Utah. In the last three meetings, Rogers has notched two solo blocks and she now has 26 solo stops in her career. She's The Go-To Player: The Rams are very evenly balanced this season. The starting six players, not counting libero Lindsey Kerr, are all hitting between .208 and .396 and the five hitters are averaging between 2.03 and 3.99 kills per game. In conference action, the five hitters aver getting between 2.14 and 3.93 kills per game and four of the five hitters are connecting at .270 or better. Breaking The Cycle: In the previous five meetings against BYU, the road team had been victorious until Saturday night when the Rams won in three games. The last CSU win against the Cougars in Moby Arena was on Oct. 6, 2001. Its Been A Long Time: The last time Colorado State beat both BYU and Utah in both regular season matches came back during the 1984 season. Oh So Close: Several Rams are closing in on career milestones. Lindsey Kerr needs 31 digs for the 900th of her career. Katie Jo Shirley is just two kills shy of her 600th and Dre Downs is two digs shy of her 200th. Familiarity: During conference play, the Rams have stepped up their play in every statistical category. Against league foes, CSU is averaging 16.97 kills per game, up from 16.13 in non-conference matches. They are also holding conference opponents to a .136 hitting percentage and 11.97 kills per game, down from .149 and 12.28 in non-league. Quick Start Important: The first game of a match is extremely important this season. The Rams are 16-0 when winning game one of a match and 2-4 when losing the first stanza. They are also 15-0 when winning the first two games of a match and 0-2 when dropping the first two games. Queens Of the Mountain: Colorado State leads the conference in hitting percentage (.258), opponent hitting percentage (.144), assists (15.11) and kills (16.45). Individually, Katie Jo Shirley leads in hitting percentage (.396) and Melissa Courtney leads in assists (13.17). In conference matches only, the Rams lead in opponent hitting percentage (.136), assists (15.48), kills (16.97) and aces (2.17). It's Hammer Time: With her 100 assists on the weekend, setter Melissa Courtney now has 1,000 on the season, which pushes her over the 2,500 total for her career. Courtney has 2,538 assists, which is sixth on the CSU career charts and is 95 shy of taking over fifth place, currently held by Robin Wilson (1983-84) with 2,634 assists. The Tenth Ten: The Rams have won 11 straight matches, dating back to a loss at then-#22 Minnesota on Sept. 19. The 11 straight matches ties for the eighth longest streak in school history and marks the 10th time the Rams have won at least 10 straight. The 11 straight is the longest since the 2001 team set the record with 20 consecutive victories. Early Starts: Colorado State has an impressive streak of wins when winning the first two games in a match. The Rams are 109-1 when winning the first two games in a contest since the beginning of the 1999 season and have won their last 33. The only loss during that stretch was the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament against Utah in 2001. This season, the Rams are 14-0 and were a perfect 17-0 last year. In 1999, they were 24-0 and 28-0 in 2000. The 2001 season the Rams were 25-1. National Rankings: According to the NCAA statistics released through matches of Oct. 26 the Rams were ranked 17th in assists per game at 15.11. Melissa Courtney is ranked 18th in that category with 13.17 assists per game and Katie Jo Shirley ranks 15th in hitting percentage at .396. The Rams jumped up nine spots to 19th in kills per game with 16.45. CSU also appears in the winning percentage at 29th with a .818 percentage. Ticket Information: Tickets to all home Colorado State matches are available by calling the Ram Ticket Office at 1-800-491-RAMS or locally, 491-RAMS. Tickets are also available for purchase on the Colorado State website at www.csurams.com. Reserved single-match tickets are just $6, while general admission is $5 and youth general admission is $3 (ages 3-18). CSU students are admitted for free. Block Party: Katie Jo Shirley has quite a string of blocks going. The junior has had at least one block in the last 54 matches for the Rams, dating back to the opening match of the 2002 season. Bri Frech has tallied at least one block in all 22 matches this season and Tess Rogers is third on the active list with 11 straight matches with at least one block. Two By Two: For the fourth consecutive week, the Rams jumped up two spots in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. Colorado State is now ranked 16th in the nation with 572 points. The Rams have been ranked 72 weeks since head coach Tom Hilbert joined the staff in 1997 and the 16th ranking is the highest since the Rams were ranked 10th in the 2001 final poll. Home Sweet Home: Colorado State loves playing in Moby Arena. The Rams have posted a 31-1 (.969) all-time record in Mountain West Conference play at home, losing only last season to BYU in five games. All time in Moby, the Rams are 213-62 (.775) and have posted a 95-11(.896) record at home since the arrival of Tom Hilbert in 1997. Digging Her Way Into The Books: Lindsey Kerr currently has 869 digs, which is fifth all-time in the Mountain West Conference career record books. She has tallied at least five digs in the last 16 matches and has done so in 19 of the 20 matches she has played this season. She also had at least five digs in 30 of 31 matches last season and 28 of the 33 in which she played her freshman year. Quick Hits On San Diego State: The Aztecs are holding on to fourth-place in the Mountain West Conference race with a 4-4 record. Overall, they are 13-10 on the year. Defending co-Mountain West Player of the Year Aspen McPartland leads the Aztecs with a .337 hitting percentage and 3.80 kills per game. She is also second on the team in blocks with 1.15 per game, while Megan Schauermann leads the team with 1.54 stops per game. Setter Sara Engstrom leads SDSU with 11.81 assists per game and 0.32 aces per game, while Kara Moriarty leads with 2.22 digs per game. The Rams swept the previous meeting between the two teams 30-19, 30-27, 30-21. Tess Rogers led the Rams with 16 kills, while Becky Sarauer chipped in 14 and hit a team best .500. Lindsey Kerr led all players with 12 digs and Bri Frech had a match high four aces and Katie Jo Shirley led the Rams with four blocks. McPartland led the Aztecs with 13 kills, while Moriarty added 11 kills and led the team with seven digs. Both Schauermann and McPartland had three blocks in the match. Colorado State trails the all-time series 14-12, but have won nine of the last 10 meetings. The last win for San Diego State came last season at Peterson Gym on the Aztecs' senior night. San Diego State head coach Mark Warner was co-coach of the year in the league with Tom Hilbert last season. He is in his ninth season and has a record of 152-118 overall.
Quick Hits On UNLV: The Rebels play a non-league match against Nevada on
Tuesday and then face Wyoming on Thursday before playing the Rams on
Saturday. UNLV is in seventh place in the league with a 2-6 conference
record and are 9-11 overall this season.
Outside hitter Leiana Oswald leads the Rebels with 4.06 kills per game,
while Sheila Ocasio-Clemente leads the starters with a .249 hitting
percentage. She also leads the team with 1.09 blocks per game. Junior
setter Nicki King leads the team with 11.71 assists and 0.30 aces per
game, while Oswald leads the team with 2.26 digs per game.
The Rams swept the last meeting, 30-23, 30-26, 30-19. Casey Bauer led
all players with 13 kills while Becky Sarauer chipped in 12. Katie Jo
Shirley and Bri Frech led all players with 10 digs, while Frech chipped
in three aces and three players had six blocks. UNLV was led by Tarin
Keith with nine kills and Nina Franchini with nine digs. Ocasio-Clemente
and Christina Kirschner each had six blocks.
This will be the 18th meeting between the teams with CSU holding the
15-2 lead, including winning the last 10.
Deitre Collins is in her eighth season and sports a record of 85-130.
She has coached in all 17 meetings between the two teams.
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