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Colorado State Heads To Beehive State
Rams enter week 18-8, 10-2 MWC.
Nov. 12, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - With just one weekend left in the conference season, the Rams have sole possession of first place and could win their third straight regular season title with wins at Utah and BYU this weekend. It will not be an easy road trip, however, as Utah has won its last 28 matches at Crimson Court and the Rams lost a five-game match to BYU earlier this season. Make It 17 Straight: Colorado State volleyball finished the home portion of the Mountain West Conference schedule with a three-game win over Air Force, 30-23, 30-18, 30-22. Senior middle blocker Michelle Knox led the Rams with 11 kills and a .500 attack percentage, while freshman outside hitter Tess Rogers also chipped in 10 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley led the team with six blocks and for the first time this season Rogers led all players with nine digs. Freshman opposite side hitter Andreya Downs tallied two aces in the win and now has 54 on the season. Lobo Sweep: Without the services of sophomore libero Lindsey Kerr -- who leads the Mountain West Conference in digs and reception-to-kill ratio -- the Colorado State volleyball team still defeated the New Mexico Lobos in three games, 30-26, 30-20, 30-26. Tess Rogers led all players with 18 kills and had a stretch with five straight kills for the Rams and a service ace at the beginning of game two. Michelle Knox tallied 11 kills to mark the 11th straight conference match in double figures in kills. Sophomore outside hitter Becky Sarauer, playing all six rotations for the first time in her career, tied a career-high with nine digs on the evening and also added nine kills. Katie Jo Shirley, who was the libero in game three, led all players with 14 digs. Freshman outside hitter Casey Bauer was the libero in games one and two for CSU and then played back row for freshman middle blocker Melissa Dennett in game three. Dennett notched a career-high three kills. Honored: Lone senior Michelle Knox was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for her performances against New Mexico and Air Force. Knox tallied 22 kills on the week and hit at a .486 clip, averaging 3.67 kills per game. The middle blocker also had 11 digs (1.83 per game) and four blocks in the two wins. This is the first award for Knox in her career and the second for the Rams this season as Andreya Downs was honored the second week of the season after splitting with Long Beach State and Wyoming. T for Two and Two for T: This weekend Tess Rogers broke the Mountain West Conference records for kills by a freshman against all opponents and in league action only. The true freshman has tallied 343 kills in 26 matches and in conference play has 175 kills, breaking the conference records of 326 and 155, respectively, both held by Delavane Diaz of Air Force from 2000. Rogers is also just two kills shy of breaking the CSU freshman kills record of 344 held by Angie Miller in 1988. A Long Time: Colorado State has been either in first place in the Mountain West Conference standings or tied for the league lead during all 23 weeks of league play since the start of 2000. This week, the Rams are alone in first place after San Diego State lost at UNLV and the Rams defeated both New Mexico and Air Force over the weekend. The last two seasons, the Rams have won the regular-season title with 13-1 records. Aces Are Wild: With five service aces in the two matches over the weekend, Andreya Downs now has 54 on the season and needs just five more to break the school record of 58 by Sherri Danielson in 1984. Downs already owns the school record for aces by a freshman and holds both the MWC records for aces by a freshman (vs all opponents and MWC opponents only). Her season total of 54 currently ranks third on the single-season charts at CSU. Streaky: Colorado State currently has a winning streak against five of the seven other teams in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams have won the last 17 meetings against the Air Force Falcons, the last 12 against New Mexico, eight straight against UNLV, 10 against Wyoming and one against Utah. Doubled Up: Michelle Knox has tallied at least 10 kills in every conference match this season and has done so in her last 13 matches. Tess Rogers started her streak back up with both matches this weekend and has notched double figure kills in all but one conference match this year. Climbing The Ladder: Lindsey Kerr currently has 340 digs on the year, which ranks eighth on the CSU single-season charts and needs just six more to move into seventh, 11 more to move into sixth and 16 more to vault into fifth. The single season record for digs is 437 by Carrie Appleman in 1992. Kerr is also just 36 digs shy of breaking the all-time Mountain West record of 375 digs held by Alisa Geddes of Utah from 1999. On The Charts: With her 500th kill at CSU over the weekend, Michelle Knox is now eligible for the career charts in hitting percentage. At CSU, Knox is hitting .319 which ranks her eighth all-time (516-179-1056). She is one of just nine players in school history to have tallied at least 500 kills and hit over .300 for her career. Defense Needed: Sophomore setter Melissa Courtney is just six digs shy of her 200th career dig and Lindsey Kerr needs just 29 more digs to hit 600 in only her second season of play. Michelle Knox is also just 17 digs shy of her 200th at Colorado State. Aces Are Wild, Part II: The Rams have 174 service aces this season for a 1.89 per game average. That per game average ranks fourth in school history behind 1984 (2.12 per game), 1993 (2.01) and last season's team with a 1.93 per game average. The record for total aces in a single-season is 278 by the 1984 team. On Pace: Melissa Courtney needs just 50 assists to break the Mountain West record for assists during the conference season. She will break former CSU setter Allison Peckham's record of 639. Tournament Preview: Colorado State is in first place in the Mountain West Conference standings, but could be anywhere from the first to the third seed in the league tournament next weekend, depending on the outcome of matches this weekend. San Diego State and Utah are both still hunting for the top seed in the tournament. The Aztecs travel to Air Force and New Mexico this weekend, while the Utes host the Rams and Cowgirls to determine the seeding of the tournament. Should CSU win both matches, the Rams would be the top seed, but if they lose both they will be seeded third. Well Rounded: Colorado State has four different individuals leading in four of the six statistical categories in the Mountain West statistics. Katie Jo Shirley leads the league in hitting percentage at .342 for the season, while Andreya Downs leads the league in aces at 0.59 per game, Melissa Courtney leads in assists at 13.14 and Lindsey Kerr has a large lead in digs at 3.82 per game. In conference matches only, Shirley leads in attack percentage at .361 while Michelle Knox is right behind her at .343, Courtney leads in assists at 13.41 and Kerr is averaging a league-best 3.76 digs per game. Downs is second in aces at 0.66 behind San Diego State's Robyn Gregg at 0.76. Queens of the Mountain: The Rams lead the league in assists, kills and service aces and are second in hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage and third in digs per game. Against league opponents only the Rams lead in hitting percentage, assists, kills and aces and are second in opponent hitting percentage and digs. Knox And Blocks: Michelle Knox has 26 solo blocks this season which is the single-season record at CSU during the Tom Hilbert era -- since 1997. Knox breaks the old record of Esther Langley from 1998. Knox's career record of 44 solo stops also ranks third during Hilbert's time at CSU. Angela Knopf hold the record with 82, while Courtney Cox tallied 53. Rounding out the top five are Langley with 41 (only two years under Hilbert) and Summer Jennings with 34. Tournament Time: Colorado State will host the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship for the second time in three season on Nov. 21-23. Tickets are available by calling 491-RAMS or 1-800-491-RAMS. For members of the media, credentials are available and requests are due to the conference office by Nov. 12. Please contact Ron Christian at the Mountain West Conference at 719-488-4050 or email him at: rchristian@themwc.com. Sisterly Love: Michelle Knox's older stepsister Angie was a standout on the CSU volleyball team from 1984-87. Michelle currently has 44 solo blocks in her time at CSU and is just six shy of tying Angie's 50 that she tallied, which is 12th on the all-time career chart at Colorado State. Michelle has 63 solo stops in her career, surpassing her sister's record, but 19 were with Auburn and don't count toward her career statistics at CSU. A First: For the first time this season, Tess Rogers led the Rams in digs in a game. The freshman had nine digs against Air Force and does not play in the back row as Lindsey Kerr comes in as the libero for Rogers during her time in the back row. Kerr has the Rams in 19 matches this year.
Scouting The Competition: Kim Turner and Sylva Strzinkova lead the Utes with 3.89 kills per game, while Turner is hitting a team-best .295. Setter Kelsie Kartchner is averaging 10.57 assists per game. Jackie Morrill leads the team with 2.98 digs per game. Turner also leads the league with 1.55 blocks per game. In the last meeting, Tess Rogers led the Rams with 17 kills, while Michelle Knox had 14 kills and Andreya Downs chipped in 11. Melissa Courtney also led the team with 13 digs and 45 assists, while Knox had a team-high five blocks. Utah was led by Turner with 18 kills, while Strzinkova had 14 and Lyndsey Phillips added 13. Shelley Hundley had a team-high 10 digs and Turner led the way with four blocks and Kartchner had 33 assists. This will be the 53rd meeting between the two teams with the Rams holding a 35-17 advantage in the all-time series and the Rams have won one straight. Beth Launiere is in her 13th season with Utah and has an overall record of 248-159. BYU: The Cougars are one of two teams to defeat the Rams in conference action this season, beating CSU in five games at Moby. BYU is 11-15 overall and 6-6 in Mountain West action and currently in fourth place alone in the standings. Setter Karina Puikkonen leads the team with a .330 hitting percentage and 1.57 kills per game, while averaging 10.93 assists per game and a team-high 0.24 aces per game. April Varner is averaging a team-best 2.88 kills per game. Lindsey Metcalf is averaging 3.03 digs per game, while Uila Crabbe is right behind her with 3.01 per contest. Carrie Bowers leads the team with 1.35 blocks per game. The first time the two teams met, Tess Rogers led the Rams with 17 kills, while Katie Jo Shirley had 16, Andreya Downs had 15 and Michelle Knox added 14. Lindsey Kerr led all players with 12 digs, while Knox had a double-double with 10 digs and had a team-high five blocks. The Cougars were led by Varner and Kimberly Wilson with 12 kills each, while Allison Larson and Laura Nielson chipped in 11. Sahara Castillo led the Cougars with 11 digs and Nielsen had a team-high four blocks. Saturday will mark the 56th meeting between the two squads and the Cougars own a 43-12-1 lead in the all-time series and BYU has won one straight against the Rams. Karen Lamb is in her first season as head coach with the Cougars and sports a 11-15 record. Her career record now stands at 101-109 in her sixth season as a head coach.
Quite Impressive: CSU ranks among the top programs in total victories
since 2000. The Rams have 79 total wins since the beginning of the 2000
season which ranks fifth among Division I programs, trailing only
Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Hawai'i and Florida.
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