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CSU Win Over Denver Makes It 15 Straight
Shirley leads Rams with 14 kills and a .650 hitting percentage.
Nov. 12, 2003
DENVER - The Colorado State volleyball team, ranked 15th in the most recent AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll, won a non-conference match against the Denver Pioneers, 30-21, 30-24, 30-28 in Hamilton Gym to move to 22-4 on the year. Denver falls to 16-13 with the loss. Junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley -- this week's co-Mountain West Conference Player of the Week -- again led the Rams, this time with 14 kills and a .650 hitting percentage (14-1-20). Sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs and sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers each chipped in 11 kills, while junior middle blocker Bri Frech led all players with eight digs and hit .533 on the night. Shirley also led the team with five blocks. The Rams hit .330 for the match, with six aces and seven blocks, along with 35 digs. Denver was led by freshman outside hitter Lisa Hunter with nine kills and seven digs, while Kelli Rudelson hit a team-high .357 and had three blocks. Senior Olympia Hughes, honored prior to the match with fellow seniors Andrea Baron and Jen Karas, led the team with two aces. The Pioneers hit .330 for the match, with three aces, six blocks and 24 digs. "Our middle blockers were great for us tonight," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "Katie Jo was completely unstoppable, and Bri did a great job hitting the slide tonight. Dre also had a great match."
Denver scored the first three points of the match off two kills and a solo block, but a kill by junior middle blocker Becky Sarauer got the Rams on the board. The teams traded points for the 4-2 Denver lead, when the Pioneers got a kill and ace serve to lead 6-2. The Rams scored the next three points to pull within one, 6-5, but missed their next serve. Denver returned the favor and then CSU scored three of the next four -- two off kills by Frech -- for the first Ram lead, 9-8. The score was tied at nine and 10, but the Rams then rattled off four straight, including another kill and then an ace by Frech. Denver used its first timeout and scored the next two points for the 14-12 CSU advantage. Denver closed within one at 17-16 on a block of Rogers, but the Rams again scored four straight to lead 21-17 and they went on to win 30-21. The Rams hit .444 and Shirley and Frech led the Rams with four kills each.
The teams traded service errors to start the second game and then the Rams scored four straight and seven of the next eight for the 8-2 lead. The first three Denver points of the game all came off missed serves by CSU, which missed 14 in the match. Trailing 10-3, Denver called a timeout, but Sarauer scored the next two Ram points on aces for the 12-3 advantage. The Pioneers rallied for the next three points to make the score 12-6. With the 15-9 lead, the Rams scored four in a row, thanks in part to kills by Frech and Downs and an ace by Rogers, for the 19-9 advantage. Five of the next seven points went to Denver to make the score 21-14, but the Rams went on to win 30-24. Rogers led all players with five kills, while Sarauer had two aces in the second stanza. The third game was tied at the first two points and then Kristin Halt got back-to-back points for Denver to give the Pioneers the 4-2 lead. The Rams tied the game at 5-5 off a Frech kill. The game was tied again at 6, 9 and 10 before the Pioneers scored three straight to take the 13-10 lead. The teams traded points until the 17-14 Denver lead, when the Rams scored six of the next seven points for the 20-18 lead. The score was then tied at every point from 22-27 when Shirley and Downs combined for a block to give the Rams the 28-27 lead. Denver called a timeout and Frech missed the serve after the break to knot the score at 28-28. The Rams then got back-to-back kills by Downs and Sarauer to win the match and final game, 30-28. Colorado State closes out its Mountain West Conference regular season on Friday and Saturday against Air Force and New Mexico, respectively. Both matches are in Moby Arena and scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. The Rams then head to San Diego for the Mountain West Conference Tournament, where they will be the top seed for the fourth consecutive season. |
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