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Colorado State Volleyball Release
No. 9 Rams take on Wyoming and No. 3 Nebraska.
Nov. 2, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Series History: Wyoming Series History: Nebraska Final Four: Colorado State plays its final four matches prior to the Mountain West Championship away from the friendly confines of Moby Arena. The #9 Rams play at Wyoming on Friday, before stepping out of league play to face #3 Nebraska on Sunday evening in the AVCA Match of the Week on CSTV. The Rams then close out MWC play at BYU and #17 Utah the next weekend. Sweep over UNLV: Colorado State defeated UNLV in straight games, 30-18, 30-22, 30-18 in front of 1,226 fans in Moby Arena to improve to 19-2 overall and 10-1 in Mountain West Conference play. Junior outside hitter Tess Rogers led the Rams with 14 kills, while senior middle blocker Bri Frech added 11 and senior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon chipped in 10. Cahoon and sophomore libero Kristen Karlik also led the team with 11 digs and Frech had a match-high five blocks. Cahoon also led the team with three aces and a .643 hitting percentage (10-1-14). Rams Ace Way To Victory: Tying a season-high with 11 aces, Colorado State swept San Diego State, 30-18, 30-9, 30-20. Senior setter Melissa Courtney established a new career-high and tied for eighth on the CSU single-match records with six service aces. Tess Rogers and junior right-side hitter Dre Downs tied for match-highs with 11 kills, while Bri Frech led the team with seven digs and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon had a match-high six blocks. Kristen Karlik saw her first action this season as a right-side player and notched a career-high three kills, while sophomore Katherine Whitney got her first block as a Ram, as the pair helped run a 6-2 offense in the last part of the third game. Honored: Senior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week after leading the Rams to three victories last week. Cahoon hit .591 (28-2-44), averaging 3.11 kills, 0.56 aces, 2.56 digs and 1.56 blocks over the nine games. This marks the third award of Cahoon's career, as she won the award twice last season. Cahoon also notched her 300th career block assist over the weekend and now has 308. Holding Them Down: The nine points allowed in game two against San Diego State was the lowest opponent total this year and the second lowest in school history since rally scoring started in 2001 (7 vs Air Force, 11/9/2001) and the lowest total allowed in the Mountain West this year. Back On Track: Melissa Courtney broke out of her serving slump in a big way. The senior notched a career-high six aces against San Diego State and now has 24 on the year, good for second on the team. After having just three aces in seven matches with 24 errors, Courtney notched eight aces with just five errors in matches last week. Crystal Ball: Ram fans got a glimpse of the future against San Diego State with Kristen Karlik and Katherine Whitney splitting the setting duties in game three. One of the two will be the starting setter next year, while the other will more than likely be the starting libero. The pair also combined for five kills in 10 swings. Remaining Steady: Colorado State has now been ranked in the top 10 the last seven weeks as the Rams are ninth in the USA Today/CSTV Coaches' Top 25 poll for the third straight week. The Rams have now been ranked ninth for eight weeks since 1982 and have been ranked 169 weeks out of 311 possible weeks . Eight Is Enough: Melissa Courtney needs just eight more service aces to break the school career aces record. The senior currently has 131 aces, which is tied for third on the charts. The record of 138 is held by Angela Knopf (1998-2001), while second place is 134 aces by Diane Saba (1983, 1985-87). On Pace: Colorado State is averaging 17.41 kills per game, which would break the school record of 17.28 by the 2001 team. The 17.41 would also break the Mountain West Conference record, which is also held by the 2001 CSU squad. The Rams are averaging 16.21 assists per game which is also on pace for a new record, surpassing the 2001 record of 15.90. The .299 season hitting percentage record is on pace for second in the CSU record books, with the school record being .314 by the same 2001 team. The 3.07 blocks per game the Rams are averaging, also ranks fifth on the CSU single-season list. Hot Streak: Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon has had just three hitting errors in the last four matches, recording 33 kills in 53 swings for a .566 hitting percentage. She is now hitting .406 on the season, which ranks fifth on the CSU single-season charts and is right behind her season total of .415 from last year. Aces Are Wild: San Diego State marked the first match all season the Rams recorded more aces than errors, with a season-tying high of 11 aces and just five errors. In the three matches over the weekend, the Rams recorded 21 aces and 19 errors. The Rams are averaging 1.68 aces per game and 3.14 service errors per game this season. Keys To Success: In all 19 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. Double Grand Watch: Two more Rams are closing in on 1,000 career kills. There have only been 14 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 hit the mark against Air Force and now has 1,055 to rank 13th, while Becky Sarauer is 15th with 980 kills and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon is 16th with 974 kills. Two-Year Sensation: Bri Frech will be remembered as one of the best blocking players in school history. The senior has 246 blocks in her time with the Rams, which ranks second among Colorado State two-year players. The only other two-year player with more blocks is Angie Miller (1988-89) with 377 blocks, which ranks ninth all-time in the record books. News & Numbers: Colorado State has hit over .300 in nine of the last 12 matches, including four over .400 and is hitting a Mountain West best .299 for the year, including .321 in conference play. Dominance: Through the first 11 matches in Mountain West Conference play, the Rams are averaging 6.19 more kills per game than their opponents. CSU leads the league with 17.72 kills per game, while its opponents are averaging just 11.53 kills per game. CSU is also hitting over .150 points better than its conference opposition. The Rams are hitting .321 in conference play and limiting opponents to a league-low .132 -- a difference of .189. Best In The Mountain West: The Rams lead the Mountain West in hitting percentage (.299) assists per game (16.17) and kills per game (17.41). Individually, Melissa Courtney leads in assists at 13.93, Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon leads in hitting percentage (.406) and Tess Rogers leads in kills per game (3.96), while Bri Frech also ranks second in aces (0.42). In conference matches only, the Rams lead in hitting percentage (.321), assists (16.28), opponent hitting percentage (.132), kills (17.72) and aces (1.86). Individually, Courtney leads in assists per game (14.19), Cahoon leads in hitting percentage (.415), Rogers leads in kills per game (3.91) and Frech leads in aces (0.58). Tested: Colorado State has yet to play a five-game match this season and only eight of the 21 matches -- including both losses -- have gone four games. The last five-game match was in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament against San Diego State -- a span of 27 matches. Moby Madness: The Rams rank 10th in attendance this week. They are averaging 1,852 fans per match, trailing Hawai'i (6,861), Nebraska (4,521), Wisconsin (4,084), Minnesota (3,304), Washington (2,973), Florida (2,630), Penn State (2,395), Pacific (1,912) and Texas A&M (1,887). 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. 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. The match at Nebraska can also be heard on 90.5 KCSU FM in Fort Collins. Tough Defense: Colorado State has held seven opponents this season to a hitting percentage of .100 or below. Since Tom Hilbert joined Colorado State in 1997, the Rams have held 80 opponents (of 256 -- 31.3%) to .100 or lower, including 18 to .000 or below. No opponent has hit .300 against the Rams this season and only one, Minnesota, has hit above .250. Balanced Attack: In eight of the 21 matches this season (Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Washington State, Ohio, Pepperdine, UNLV, Utah and Air Force), four Rams have been in double figures in kills, and in seven others (Colorado, Gonzaga, Southern Miss, New Mexico, San Diego State and New Mexico, UNLV), three Rams have notched at least 10 kills. The Rams are averaging 17.41 kills per game, compared to 12.65 for their opponents. 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, five have led in digs and four different players have led the team in blocks. Early Starts: Colorado State has won its last 58 matches when winning the first two games of a match. The Rams are 134-1 since the beginning of the 1999 season, losing only in the Mountain West Championship to Utah in 2001. In 2004, the Rams are 17-0 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. Serving Stretches: In the win over UNLV, the Rams had several scoring runs of four or more points. In game one, Tess Rogers, senior defensive specialist Kimi Foytich and Bri Frech each had four point runs, while Melissa Courtney had a run of five points in game three. The Rams had 13 stretches of three-plus point runs in that match. Among The Best: In the most recent NCAA Statistics (through 10/24), Melissa Courtney ranks 7th in assists per game, averaging 13.92 and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon ranks 26th in hitting percentage at .385. The Rams rank fifth in assists per game (16.09), eighth in kills per game (17.40), 10th in hitting percentage (.292), 16th in winning percentage (.889) and 26th in blocks per game (2.92). Looking Good: Colorado State has won its last 46 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 47 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: Wyoming Senior Sara Maytorena leads the team with 3.52 kills and 0.32 aces per game, while freshman middle blocker Shelby Heggie leads with a .335 hitting percentage and Lauren Scott leads with 1.19 blocks per game. Freshman Rachel Booth leads the team with 3.24 digs a game. Wyoming is hitting .267 on the year with 15.60 kills, 1.34 aces, 13.25 digs and 2.07 blocks per game, while opponents are hitting .233 with 15.83 kills, 1.40 aces, 13.76 digs and 2.40 blocks. In conference play, Rachel Smith leads with 3.70 kills, while Andrea Tuck leads with a .335 hitting percentage. Booth leads the team with 2.79 digs and Scott leads with 1.03 blocks, while Maytorena leads with 0.37 aces per game. The Cowgirls are hitting .244 with 15.44 kills, 1.35 aces, 13.12 digs and 2.06 blocks per game in conference, while opponents are hitting .232 with 15.74 kills, 1.37 aces, 13.21 digs and 2.78 blocks per game. In the first meeting, the Rams won in three games 30-23, 30-26, 30-14 in Fort Collins. Maytorena led Wyoming with 10 kills, while Smith had a team-high eight digs and Maytorena and Scott each had two blocks. CSU was led by Dre Downs and Tess Rogers with 10 kills each, while Kristen Karlik had 12 digs and Bri Frech had six aces, while Downs led with five blocks. Pat Stangle is in his first season as a head coach with a 13-10 career record. Scouting The Opposition: Nebraska Junior Melissa Elmer leads the team with a .340 hitting percentage and 1.81 blocks per game, while freshman Sarah Pavan is killing a team-best 4.48 per game. Sophomore Dani Mancuso leads the team with 0.33 aces per game, while libero Amanda McCormick leads with 4.51 digs per game. Nebraska is hitting .283 on the year, with 17.13 kills, 1.40 aces, 17.66 digs and 3.84 blocks per game while opponents are hitting just .095 with 11.76 kills, 1.01 aces, 15.70 digs and 1.99 blocks per game.
John Cook is in his fifth season as head coach at Nebraska. He is 143-10
with the Huskers and sports an overall record of 304-83 in his 12th
season as a head coach.
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