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Rams Host Wyoming
Colorado State looks to keep perfect conference season alive.
Nov. 6, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State volleyball team wraps up the Mountain West Conference season with three home matches. This weekend, the Rams play the second half of the Border War against rival, Wyoming on Friday evening. With a win over the Cowgirls, the Rams can clinch no less than a share of the regular season Mountain West title. The Rams have won the regular season title the last three seasons -- in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Two Match Lead: Heading into the final two weeks of the season, the Rams hold a two match lead over second place Utah in the Mountain West Conference standings. The Rams are 11-0 in league play, while the Utes are 9-2 with both losses coming against CSU. BYU is currently in third with an 8-3 record and the two teams square off this Friday. Unbeaten On The Road: Led by junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley, Colorado State defeated UNLV in four games, 32-30, 30-27, 26-30, 30-28 to improve to 20-4 overall and a perfect 11-0 in Mountain West Conference play. Colorado State was led by Shirley with a career-high 23 kills and a .656 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer and sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers both added 15 kills and junior middle blocker Bri Frech chipped in 13 kills in the win. Shirley and junior libero Lindsey Kerr led the Rams with 12 digs each and Frech led the team with five blocks. The Rams had nine aces in the match with junior setter Melissa Courtney leading the way with four, Sarauer added three and Frech and freshman defensive specialist Kristen Karlik each added one. Rams Survive Battle: Colorado State remained unbeaten in Mountain West Conference play after a long five-game battle at San Diego State 20-30, 30-27, 30-27, 28-30, 15-12. Becky Sarauer led all the players with 20 kills and was one of five Rams in double figures in kills. Sophomore outside hitter Casey Bauer notched a career-high 15 kills, Katie Jo Shirley added 14 kills and Bri Frech and sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs added 12 and 10, respectively. Shirley also led the Rams with 10 blocks while Melissa Courtney and Lindsey Kerr tied for the match lead with 14 digs. Bauer also led the team with three aces. Junior Kimi Foytich saw her first setting action of the season midway through the first game and ended the match with five assists and seven digs. Road Rules: With the win over UNLV on Saturday, Colorado State became the first team in Mountain West Conference history to go undefeated on the road. The Rams posted a perfect 7-0 record away from Moby Arena, and are currently 4-0 at home in league play. McDish: Melissa Courtney became the fifth most prolific setter in Colorado State history over the weekend. The junior now has 2,659 assists, passing Robin Wilson (1983-84) who tallied 2,634 assists in her two year career with the Rams. Next on Courtney's target list is Ginger Kidd (1991-93) with 3,209 assists. Oh So Close: Several Rams are closing in on career milestones. Lindsey Kerr needs just five more digs for the 900th of her career. Katie Jo Shirley is 18 digs shy of her 500th and Tess Rogers needs just 10 more blocks for the 100th of her career. Block Party: For just the second time this year, a Ram recorded 10 blocks in a match. Katie Jo Shirley tied her career-high and tied for 12th on all-time single-match list at CSU with 10 blocks against San Diego State on Thursday. Earlier this season, Bri Frech had 10 blocks against Minnesota on Sept. 19. Double Trouble: In the last four matches and in five of the last six, at least four players have recorded double digits in the kills column. Against San Diego State, five Rams tallied at least 10 kills in the match, marking the first time this season that five players were in double figures in kills. Aces Are Wild: Colorado State is the only team in the Mountain West to have three players with 13 or more aces in conference play and the only team to have five players with seven or more aces. Streaky: The Rams have won 13 straight matches, dating back to a loss at Minnesota on Sept. 19. The streak ties for the fourth longest in school history and marks the 10th time the Rams have won at least 10 straight. The 13 straight is the longest since the 2001 team set the record with 20 straight wins. Back-To-Back 20s: For the first time this year, the Rams had players record 20+ kills in back-to-back matches. At San Diego State, Becky Sarauer nailed 20 kills, while at UNLV, Katie Jo Shirley tallied a career-high 23 kills. Twice this season, Rams have hit the 20-kill barrier in the same match (Florida A&M and Wisconsin-Milwaukee) but it had not been done in consecutive matches. Made To Be Broken: With the 11-0 start in Mountain West Conference play, the Rams break the record for the best start in league action. Colorado State breaks the old record of 10 straight wins to start conference play, held by the 2001 Colorado State team that won the regular season title with a 13-1 mark. 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 .216 and .402 and the five hitters are averaging between 2.01 and 3.98 kills per game. In conference action, the five hitters are getting between 2.08 and 3.92 kills per game and all five are hitting above .212. Hitting Twenty: With the victory over UNLV on Saturday, the Rams posted their eighth straight 20-plus win season. The Rams are 20-4 and have reach at least 20 wins every season since 1995. It also marks the 14th time in school history the Rams have hit the 20-win barrier. A Killing Spree: Shirley tied the Mountain West Conference season-high for kills in a four-game match with 23 against UNLV. She also established a new CSU high this season, regardless of games and set a career-high. The Rams had 80 kills against UNLV and 79 against San Diego State for the top two kill totals by any team in the conference this season. Quick Start Important: The first game of a match is extremely important this season. The Rams are 17-0 when winning game one of a match and 3-4 when losing the first stanza. They are also 16-0 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 league in opponent hitting percentage (.157), assists per game (15.13) and kills (16.58). The Rams are second in hitting percentage (.257) and aces (1.86). Individually, Katie Jo Shirley leads in hitting percentage (.402) and Melissa Courtney leads in assists (13.20). In conference play only, the Rams lead in assists (15.45), kills (17.13) and aces (2.05) and are second in opponent hitting percentage (.167) and digs (13.11). Courtney leads in assists (13.50) and Shirley is second in hitting percentage (.381). A Tale Of Two Teams: In the Rams four losses this year, the team hit just .163, with 0.80 aces and 10.67 digs per game. In the 20 wins, the Rams are hitting .278 with 2.09 aces and 13.06 digs per game. Surprisingly, the Rams blocked better in the losses (2.93 per game) than they have in their wins (2.68). Early Starts: Colorado State has an impressive streak of wins when winning the first two games in a match. The Rams are 111-1 when winning the first two games in a contest since the beginning of the 1999 season and have won their last 35. The only loss during that stretch was the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament against Utah in 2001. This season, the Rams are 16-0 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 Oct. 26 the Rams were ranked 17th in assists per game at 15.11. Melissa Courtney is ranked 18th with 13.17 assists per game and Katie Jo Shirley ranks 15th in hitting percentage at .396. The Rams are up nine spots to 19th in kills per game with 16.45. Well Rounded: Colorado State boasts better per game numbers in every category than its opponents this season -- kills, assists, aces and digs -- except blocks. In conference play, the Rams have better per game averages in all five statistical categories. 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 56 matches for the Rams, dating back to the opening match of the 2002 season. Bri Frech has tallied at least one block in all 24 matches this season. Melissa Courtney and Dre Downs both have active streaks of four matches going. Up One: For the sixth consecutive week, the Rams moved up in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. Colorado State is now ranked 15th in the nation with 634 points. The Rams have been ranked 73 weeks since head coach Tom Hilbert joined the staff in 1997 and 15th is the highest ranking since the Rams were 10th in the 2001 final poll. Extra Point Games: Colorado State has played in nine extra-point games this season and is 6-3 in those games, including winning the last four, all in conference play. On three occasions the Rams have won 31-29, while two victories were 32-30 and one was 33-31. The Rams have dropped games by the scores of 29-31, 30-32 and 31-33. Home Sweet Home, II: 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. Getting It Done: The Rams have a game winning percentage of .741 this season (63-22). The Rams have had only two three-game losses this year and both came against teams now in the top 10 (Stanford and Cal). The .741 winning percentage ranks fourth all-time at Colorado State behind the .829 (92-19) from 2001, the .795 (93-24) of 1999 and the .791 (102-27) from the 2000 season. Century Mark: Friday will mark head coach Tom Hilbert's 100th match against teams in the Mountain West Conference. Hilbert has posted an 85-14 record (.859) against Mountain West competition. He has a record of 61-6 in the Mountain West Conference, including a perfect 11-0 record this season. In conference matches at Colorado State, he boasts a record of 85-10 (.895). Home And Away: Dre Downs would much rather play conference opponents at home. The sophomore is hitting .384 at home to lead the Rams and is averaging 2.77 kills per game. On the road in league play, Downs is hitting at a clip and is averaging over one kill per game less, at 1.72. On the flip side, Katie Jo Shirley would rather play on the road. In Moby Arena, Shirley is hitting .320 with 3.31 kills per game, but she leads the team on the road with a .414 hitting percentage and she is averaging 3.84 kills per game. The Esses Have It: Junior Becky Sarauer has recorded double figures in kills in all but two matches this season, and in both of those she ended the match with nine kills. Katie Jo Shirley has also recorded double figures in kills in 19 of the 24 matches. Jump Serving: Freshman Kristen Karlik recorded one service ace in each of the two matches over the weekend, while jump serving. Karlik is the only left-hander on the Rams team and has alternated between jumping and staying on the floor all season. She currently has 15 aces this season, good for 0.20 per game. A Lot Of Swings: Against San Diego State on Thursday, the Rams had a season-high 186 attacks in the five game match. The previous high was 183 against Florida A&M back during the first weekend of the season. The Rams also had a season-high 28 block assists in the match, bettering the previous high of 26 from the first match against UNLV on Oct. 3.
On Pace: With three matches remaining in league action and if the Rams
play the minimum amount of games in those matches, setter Melissa
Courtney should end the conference season with 633 assists, which would
be the fifth best total in Mountain West Conference history. Last
season, she set the record with 693 assists, breaking the record
previously held by former CSU setter Allison Peckham.
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