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Colorado State Heads to San Diego for MWC Tournament
Rams enter tournament as top seed.
Nov. 17, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - For the fourth straight season, Colorado State enters the Mountain West Conference Tournament as the top seed. The first seed has never won a Mountain West Tournament title, with the number two seed winning every year except for last season, when third-seeded Utah took home the trophy. Utah will be the two-seed, while BYU and San Diego State will be the three and four seeds, respectively. UNLV, Air Force, Wyoming and New Mexico round out the eight seeds for the tournament. Back-To-Back: Colorado State will meet New Mexico for the second straight match when they do so in the opening match of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Rams are the number-one seed, while the Lobos are seeded eighth. The teams will play at 4:00 p.m. Pacific/5:00 p.m. Mountain and the winner of that match will face the winner of the San Diego State-UNLV match at 7:00 p.m. Pacific on Friday evening. Perfect!: Tough serving by the Colorado State volleyball team helped the Rams complete the first undefeated season in Mountain West Conference history as CSU swept New Mexico 30-11, 30-19, 30-18. Junior middle blocker Bri Frech led the Rams with eight kills and seven aces -- a career high -- while junior setter Melissa Courtney did not record a hitting error on the evening (6-0-6) and led the team with eight digs. Junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley led all players with five blocks. For the second night in a row, the Rams held a team to a negative hitting percentage as the Lobos hit -.068 on the evening. The Rams had 13 aces in the match, which ties for the 10th most in school history and ties the season high -- from the match against LSU in Manhattan, Kan., on Sept. 12. The six aces in game one also ties a season high, matching the six the Rams had in game three at New Mexico on Oct. 17. Balanced Attack: Despite no players recording double figures in kills for the first time this season, the 15th-ranked Colorado State volleyball team rolled to a three-game victory over Air Force, 30-24, 30-19, 30-12. Sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers led the Rams with eight kills, while sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs hit .600 (6-0-10) to lead the team. Bri Frech tied her career-high with 10 blocks, while Downs added seven for the match. Melissa Courtney had four aces to lead all players and served 10 straight points in the second game. Katie Jo Shirley led the Rams with six digs. Streaky: The Rams have won 17 straight matches, dating back to a loss at Minnesota on Sept. 19. The streak is tied for the third longest in school history and marks the 10th time the Rams have won at least 10 straight. The 17 straight is the longest since the 2001 team set the record with 20 straight. Closing In: Several Colorado State student-athletes are getting closer to career milestones. Melissa Courtney is two aces shy of her 100th and junior libero Lindsey Kerr needs five digs for her 900th. Junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer is 14 kills shy of her 800th, while Katie Jo Shirley needs 19 more kills for her 700th, sophomore outside hitter Casey Bauer is 12 shy of her 200th and Tess Rogers needs nine for her 700th. Rogers also needs just one more block for the 100th of her career. Stepping In Nicely: Freshman Kristen Karlik has played the last four matches as the Rams libero and has filled in nicely for Lindsey Kerr, who is sick. Karlik is averaging 1.92 digs per game over that stretch and also has five assists in the four matches. Quick Start Important: The first game of a match is extremely important this season for Colorado State. The Rams are 21-0 when winning game one of a match and 3-4 when losing the first stanza. They are also 19-0 when winning the first two games of a match and 0-2 when dropping the first two games. Lopsided: The 30-12 victory over New Mexico in game three on Saturday was the third most lopsided game in Colorado State history since the inception of rally scoring and the most lopsided win this season. The Rams defeated Air Force 30-7 and 30-10 on Nov. 9, 2001. Playing For The Cameras: All seven matches of the Mountain West Conference Tournament will be televised, including a live broadcast of the championship match on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain. MWC-TV will broadcast the four quarterfinal matches back to local stations. The Colorado State match will be shown on Channel 68 in the Fort Collins area. The semifinals will both be tape-delayed on CSTV (Nov. 22 at 11 and 1, respectively) and the final will also re-run on CSTV at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 24. Tournament Time: Colorado State has reached the finals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament every year except for last season. The Rams are 8-3 all-time at the conference championship and the three losses were all in five games, losing twice to BYU and once to Utah. This is the first time the Rams and New Mexico have met in tournament play in the Mountain West and this marks the first time in four seasons CSU has not faced Air Force in the opening round of the tournament. Serving Specialists: In the last two matches, the Rams recorded 22 aces in the six games, for an average of 3.67 per game. Five different players stepped back to the line and served at least five in a row in the two matches. Melissa Courtney had a stretch of nine and seven, while Bri Frech had a stretch of seven and five straight. Katie Jo Shirley served five straight balls three different times, while Casey Bauer did it once and junior defensive specialist Kimi Foytich served six straight against New Mexico. Queens Of the Mountain: Colorado State leads the league in hitting percentage (.260), opponent hitting percentage (.145), assists per game (15.02), kills (16.46) and aces (1.97). Individually, Katie Jo Shirley leads in hitting percentage (.418) and Melissa Courtney leads in assists (13.04). In conference play only, the Rams lead in opponent hitting percentage (.138), assists (15.02), kills (16.65) and aces (2.23) and are second in blocks (3.09). Individually, Courtney leads in assists (12.98) and Frech leads in aces (0.58), while Courtney is right behind her with 0.56. Aces Wild: Melissa Courtney has 44 aces on the season and with two more will jump into the top 10 on the Colorado State single-season charts. There are four players tied for eighth on the chart with 46 aces. Dre Downs set the single-season record last season with 59 aces. Quality Time: Freshmen Brittany Hoff and Susie Smith both saw action in the two matches over the weekend. Hoff was second on the team in hitting percentage after getting three kills on six swings for a .500 efficiency. She also added one dig and one block. Smith recorded four digs in two games and passed several serves perfectly. Serving It Up: Colorado State recorded more aces than the opposition in all 14 conference matches this season. The Rams lead the Mountain West Conference with 2.23 aces per game and are the only team over two per game in conference action. Colorado State also has three in the top 10 individually in aces per conference game, with Bri Frech leading the league at 0.58 and Melissa Courtney right behind her at 0.56. Becky Sarauer ties for ninth with 0.32 aces per game. Block Party: Katie Jo Shirley has quite a string of blocks going. The junior has had at least one block in the last 60 matches for the Rams, dating back to the opening match of the 2002 season. Bri Frech has tallied at least one block in all 28 matches this season. Dre Downs has an active streak of eight matches going. Breaking The Cycle: No team in Mountain West Conference history has ever won both the regular season title and the tournament title. The Rams enter the tournament as the top seed for the fourth straight season and are hoping to become the first team to win both. The good news is the host for the tournament has never won the tournament either, and the Rams could possibly meet up with San Diego State in the semifinals if both teams make it through the first round. Early Starts: Colorado State has an impressive streak of wins when winning the first two games in a match. The Rams are 114-1 when winning the first two games in a contest since the beginning of the 1999 season and have won their last 38. The only loss during that stretch was the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament against Utah in 2001. This season, the Rams are 19-0 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 Nov. 9 the Rams are ranked 12th in assists per game at 15.16 and they rank 11th in kills per game with 16.60. Melissa Courtney is ranked 16th with 13.24 assists per game and Katie Jo Shirley ranks 11th in hitting percentage at .410. The Rams also have the 18th best winning percentage this season with a 21-4 record. Winning Streaks: Over the last 12 seasons, the Rams have posted at least one five-match winning streak in all but the 1994 season and 21 different streaks of five matches or longer. Seven of those streaks have reached double digits, with four reaching 15 and one reaching 20. Well Rounded: Colorado State boasts better per game numbers in every category than its opponents this season -- kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks. The Rams are also hitting over .120 points better than the opposition. In conference matches, the Rams rank higher in all five per-game categories, as well as in hitting percentage. Spreading The Wealth: Five players hit over .300 for the week this past week in the three matches. Setter Melissa Courtney led the way, hitting .625 (12-2-16), while Katie Jo Shirley hit .537 (27-5-41), Brittany Hoff hit .500 (3-0-6), Dre Downs hit .375 (21-6-40) and Bri Frech hit .341 (23-8-44) in the nine games. The Rams hit .300 as a team, holding the opposition to just .037, while the Rams averaged 3.11 aces and 3.39 blocks per game. Colorado State was aced just five times in the nine games. Holding Steady: For the first time in seven weeks, the Rams did not move up at least one spot in the USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches poll. Colorado State is ranked 15th in the nation with 682 points, an increase of 48 points from last week. The Rams have been ranked 74 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: Colorado State loves playing in Moby Arena. The Rams have posted a 34-1 (.971) 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 216-62 (.777) and have posted a 98-11(.899) record at home since the arrival of Tom Hilbert in 1997. Defense Is The Key: Colorado State is a perfect 19-0 this season when out-digging its opponents. In the 14 conference matches this season, the Rams outdug the opponent in 11, being outdug by Utah both times and UNLV in Las Vegas. Like It At The Top: Colorado State has been either in first place in the Mountain West Conference standings or tied for the league lead during all 32 weeks of league play since the start of 2000. The Rams won their fourth consecutive regular season title this weekend with a perfect 14-0 mark after posting a 12-2 record in 2002 and back-to-back records of 13-1 in 2000 and 2001. The Winning Ways: Only 16 teams in Division I have won 100 matches since the beginning of the 2000 season and the Rams are one of them. The Rams have won 106 matches since that time, trailing only Hawai'i, Florida, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, USC and Western Kentucky. A Lot Of Action: Three players on the roster have seen action in all 98 games this season. Both starting middle blockers, Bri Frech and Katie Jo Shirley have played in all 98 games, as has starting setter Melissa Courtney. None of the three have played every point of every game, but have been in the rotation at one time or another. On A High Note: Colorado State has a winning streak against every team in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams have won the last 20 meetings against the Air Force Academy, the last 14 against New Mexico, 12 straight against Wyoming, 10 straight against UNLV, four against Utah and two against the BYU Cougars. All Conference TBA: The 2003 Mountain West All-Conference teams will be announced at the banquet preceding the conference tournament on Wed. evening in San Diego. The Rams have had at least four named to the all-conference in the previous four seasons. One More: The Rams have not yet concluded the regular season. Colorado State will play at Long Beach State on Nov. 25 after the conclusion of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Last season, the teams played four games, with the 49ers winning the match in Moby Arena. In fact, the Rams have never won against Long Beach State, posting an 0-8 record. Quick Hits On New Mexico: The Lobos finished 1-13 in Mountain West Conference play and are 4-24 overall. This will be the 48th meeting between the Lobos and Rams with the Rams holding the 27-20 lead in the all-time series. This is the first meeting between the two teams in Mountain West Tournament action, and the first time they have ever met in a conference tournament match. The Rams have won the last 14 meetings between the two squads with the last New Mexico win coming back in 1994. Senior outside hitter Anna Reines leads the team with 3.78 kills per game. Freshman Jennifer Heasty leads the squad with a .231 hitting percentage and Chelsea Sondrup is averaging a team-best 0.72 blocks per game. Setter Monica Meihack is averaging 6.37 assists per game and has a team-best 0.34 per game ace average, but sat out the match against the Rams on Saturday due to back pain. Adah Burke is the top defensive player on the team with 2.94 digs per game. The Lobos are hitting .164 with 12.59 kills, 11.26 assists, 1.80 aces, 10.51 digs and 1.81 blocks per game. The Rams swept both regular season meetings with the Lobos. The Rams hit .291 combined for the two matches and averaged 15.83 kills, 13.67 assists, 4.00 aces, 12.33 digs and 2.58 blocks per game, while the Lobos hit just .056 against the Rams and averaged 8.67 kills, 7.17 assists, 0.67 aces, 8.33 digs and 1.83 blocks per game. Becky Sarauer led the Rams with 21 kills in the two matches, while Bri Frech had 10 aces and she and Melissa Courtney each had 15 digs. Katie Jo Shirley led the Rams with eight blocks. New Mexico was led by Reines with 16 kills, while four different players each had an ace. Burke led all players with 19 digs and Kelly Therkelsen and Reines each had six blocks. Head Coach Kelley Sliva is in her second year at New Mexico and posts a record of 14-45. Overall she sports a 157-149 record in her 11th year as a head coach.
The Other Matchups: In the first match of the tournament, Utah will play
Wyoming. The Utes won both regular season meetings, playing three games
in Salt Lake City and five in Laramie. BYU and Air Force play in the
second match. The Cougars won both matches, with the teams playing five
at the Air Force Academy and three in Provo. In the last quarterfinal
match, the host team San Diego State Aztecs play UNLV. San Diego State
won both meetings, playing three games in Las Vegas and four in San Diego.
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