Dominance: Through the first-half of Mountain West Conference play, the Rams averaged 5.6 more kills per game than their opponents. CSU leads the league with 17.61 kills per game, while its opponents are averaging just 12.04 kills per game. CSU is hitting over .150 points better than its conference opposition. The Rams are hitting .316 in conference play and limiting opponents to .161-- a difference of .155.

Streaks Snapped: The loss against Utah on Friday night snapped several Rams winning streaks.

Tough Defense: Colorado State has held four opponents this season to a hitting percentage of .100 or below. Since Tom Hilbert joined Colorado State in 1997, the Rams have held 77 opponents (of 251 -- 30.7%) to .100 or lower, including 17 to .000 or below. No opponent has hit .300 against the Rams this season and only one, Minnesota, has hit above .250.

Keys To Success: In all 14 wins this season, the Rams have tallied more kills than the opponent, have hit for a higher percentage and held the opposition to .235 or lower. In the two losses, the Rams have trailed in attack percentage and have hit under .300 for the match.

Hitting For Numbers: In 12 of the 16 matches this season, Bri Frech has hit at least .300 with five or more kills. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon has hit the same mark in 11 matches, while Dre Downs has done so in nine of the 15 matches in which she's played. The Rams are hitting .291 as a team this season, including a .316 mark in Mountain West matches.

Triple Grand Watch: Three Rams are closing in on 1,000 career kills. There have only been 13 Rams in school history to eclipse the one grand mark and surprisingly, this could be the second time three players have done it in the same year (1997 - Rainie Rogers, Janie Penfield and Judy Rexroth). Tess Rogers currently ranks 14th with 979 kills, while Becky Sarauer is 15th with 977 kills and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon is 18th with 926 kills.

A Negative Into A Positive: Only four times in the first 16 matches have the Rams committed less service errors than the opponent (Georgia Tech, Idaho State, Pepperdine, BYU), however in 10 of those matches, the Rams have more aces than the opposition and are averaging 1.62 aces per game, compared to 1.05 for the opponents.

Sweeps Week: CSU has swept the New Mexico-Air Force road trip the past six times. The Rams did not play in Albuquerque in 1996 and CSU has won a combined 37-straight matches against the two teams, with a 21-match streak against the Falcons and 16 straight wins against the Lobos.

Digging Machine: Kristen Karlik has recorded double-figure digs in the last three matches, including a career-high 20 against Utah on Friday and now has 10 double-figure dig matches this season. The sophomore has had at least five digs in all but one match this season and has 12 with nine or more digs. She has 185 digs this season (3.36 per game) to lead the team and ranks sixth in the Mountain West in digs per game.

Best In The Mountain West: The Rams lead the Mountain West in hitting percentage (.291), assists per game (15.95) and kills per game (17.24). Individually, Melissa Courtney leads in assists at 13.73, while Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon ranks second in hitting percentage (.382) and Bri Frech ranks second in aces (0.44). In conference matches only, the Rams lead in hitting percentage (.316), assists (16.00), kills (17.61) and aces (1.78). Individually, the Rams rank two through five in hitting percentage (Frech, Becky Sarauer, Cahoon and Dre Downs, respectively), Sarauer leads in kills per game (3.93), Courtney leads in assists per game (14.04) and Frech leads in aces (0.65).

Balanced Attack: In seven of the 16 matches this season (Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Washington State, Ohio, Pepperdine, UNLV and Utah), four Rams have been in double figures in kills, and in five others (Colorado, Gonzaga, Southern Miss, New Mexico and San Diego State), three Rams have notched at least 10 kills. The Rams are averaging 17.24 kills per game, compared to 13.22 for their opponents.

Sarauer Steps Up: In non-conference play, Becky Sarauer hit .177 with 2.55 kills per game. In the first five conference matches, she hit .385 with a league-leading 3.93 kills per game -- increasing her hitting percentage by .208 and her kills per game by 1.38.

Spreading The Wealth: Last week was the first time in the history of the AVCA Poll that no California team was ranked in the top five. For the second straight week, Washington, Minnesota, Hawai'i, Nebraska and Penn State make up the to five teams in the nation, with only one coming from the Pacific Time Zone, and USC is the only California school in the top 10, ranking sixth.

Moby Madness: The Rams rank 8th in attendance this week. They are averaging 2,035 fans per match, trailing Hawai'i (6,812), Nebraska (4,521), Wisconsin (3,981), Minnesota (3,304), Florida (2,630), Penn State (2,516) and Washington (2,410). Colorado State has ranked among the top 25 in attendance the last five years and in all but one year since the statistic began being tracked in 1986. The 2,035 fans is the fourth highest total in school history, ranking behind 2001 (2,846 -- 4th), 1987 (2,229 -- 2nd) and 1988 (2,206 -- 1st).

Consistency Is Key: Colorado State has gone at least 6-1 in the first half of Mountain West Conference play every year of the league's existence. Four times the Rams have gone 6-1 (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004) and twice the Rams have gone 7-0 (2001, 2003).

Hard To Stop: Colorado State has such a balanced attack this season, an opponent has a hard time trying to stop the "go-to" player. Five different Rams have led the team in kills in a match this year, eight different Rams have led in hitting percentage (minimum five kills), eight have led the team at least once in aces, four have led in digs and four different players have led the team in blocks.

Rams On The Air: Every match this season will be broadcast on the internet on Yahoo! sports. The play-by-play duties are being handled by Chris Dittmer, while Travis Huntington does the color commentary in home games and Heather Kennedy in road contests. Tyler Krause also helps out.

Early Starts: Colorado State has won its last 53 matches when winning the first two games of a match. The Rams are 129-1 since the beginning of the 1999 season, losing only in the Mountain West Championship to Utah in 2001. In 2004, the Rams are 12-0 when winning the first two games, while in 2003 they were 23-0, 17-0 in 2002, 25-1 in 2001, 28-0 in 2000 and 24-0 in 1999.

Among The Best: In the most recent NCAA Statistics (through 10/10), Melissa Courtney ranks 6th in assists per game, averaging 13.81 and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon ranks 23rd and Dre Downs ranks 28th in hitting percentage at .394 and .386, respectively. The Rams rank sixth in assists per game (16.06), seventh in kills per game (17.38) and hitting percentage (.303), eighth in winning percentage (.929) and 23rd in blocks per game (2.94).

Looking Good: Colorado State has won its last 41 matches against unranked opponents. The Rams last loss against a non-ranked team came in the NCAA Tournament in 2002 at the hands of Washington. The last regular season loss against an unranked opponent came at San Diego State on Nov. 2, 2002 -- a span of 42 matches.

Wearing Their Hearts On Their Sleeves: This season, the Colorado State volleyball team is wearing an emblem on all of their game attire and practice gear. Assistant coach Andy Klussmann was injured in a car accident in June that took the life of his wife, Janna. The emblem on the jerseys this year is a memorial for Janna as well as support for Andy's full recovery. The team is dedicating this season to the Klussmanns and the heart is just one way the team is showing their feelings and well wishes for their coach.

Scouting The Opposition: New Mexico
The Lobos are in seventh place in the Mountain West Conference standings, posting a 1-6 record in league play and a 7-11 overall record. Junior Nicole Ryan leads the Lobos with 3.22 kills per game and a .217 hitting percentage, while both freshman middle blocker Samie Weber and senior setter Monica Meihack lead the team with 0.24 aces per game and Meihack is averaging 10.28 assists a game. Weber also leads the team with 1.19 blocks per game and senior libero Adah Burke is averaging a team-best 4.11 digs per contest.

In conference play only, Ryan leads the team with a .189 hitting percentage and 3.28 kills per game. Meihack is averaging 9.48 assists and both sophomore middle blocker Kelly Therkelsen and Weber have four aces in the first seven league matches. Burke leads the team with 3.92 digs a game and sophomore Jennifer Heasty is averaging a team-best 1.44 blocks per game.

Against all opponents, New Mexico is hitting .191, while averaging 13.06 kills per game, 1.52 aces, 11.58 digs and 2.64 blocks per game. Its opponents are hitting .228 with 14.73 kills, 2.03 aces, 13.45 digs and 1.97 blocks a game. In conference action, the Lobos are hitting .144, while averaging 11.84 kills, 0.96 aces, 10.64 digs and 3.04 blocks per game. Their opponents are hitting .259 with 15.40 kills, 1.44 aces, 12.88 digs and 2.44 blocks a contest.

In the first meeting between the two teams on Sept. 25, the Rams won in three games, 30-15, 30-25, 30-21 in Moby Arena. Colorado State was led by Bri Frech with 13 kills, 12 digs and four blocks, while junior outside hitter Casey Bauer had a match-high three aces and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon hit .500 (9-1-16). New Mexico was led by Sondrup with eight kills, a .167 hitting percentage and five blocks, while Burke notched nine digs.

Kelly McKee is in her third season with New Mexico and sports a 21-57 record. Overall, she is in her 12th season with a career-record of 164-161. She is 0-7 in her career against Colorado State and is 1-12 in meetings against Tom Hilbert (1-5 vs Idaho).

Scouting The Opposition: Air Force
The Falcons went winless through the first half of conference play, posting a 0-7 record and are 4-13 on the year. Air Force has lost its last nine contests, last winning on Sept. 23 against Texas-Pan American. Freshman middle blocker Brooke Akers is coming off the bench to hit a team-best .254 this season, while senior middle blocker Kristin Hamlett is getting 3.38 kills per game to lead the Falcons. Junior setter Carly Siefken is averaging 10.80 assists per game, while junior Rebecca Gallegos leads the team with 0.31 aces per game. Hamlett also leads the team with 0.89 blocks per game and senior libero Jenalee Burke leads the team with 2.30 digs per game.

In league action, senior Molly White is hitting a team-best .271, while senior Lamecca Jefferson leads with 3.22 kills per game. Siefken is averaging 10.43 assists per game and leads the team with 0.35 aces a contest, while Burke leads with 1.83 digs a game and Hamlett is blocking a team-best 0.78 balls per game.

The Falcons are hitting .167 on the year, with 13.09 kills, 1.32 aces, 11.83 digs and 1.78 blocks per game, while their opponents are hitting .235 with 14.35 kills, 2.08 aces, 13.83 digs and 2.08 blocks a contest. In league play, Air Force is hitting .149 with 12.52 kills, 1.09 aces, 10.35 digs and 1.35 blocks per game and the opposition is hitting .330 with 16.61 kills, 2.04 aces, 12.35 digs and 2.80 blocks per game. Penny Lucas-White is in her ninth season as head coach at Air Force with a record of 69-172 and in her 14th season as a head coach, sports a career record of 164-252.