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Rams Impressive Season Ended by Long Beach St.
By Cindy Luis, Special to The Denver Post
Dec. 10, 1999
Dec. 10 - HONOLULU - Aloha meant goodbye for the Colorado State women's volleyball team, and to the Rams' NCAA title hopes. No. 11 CSU fell to defending national champion Long Beach State on Thursday night, 15-5, 15-13, 13-15, 15-10, in a Mountain Regional semifinal at the Stan Sheriff Center. "I'm proud of my team and the season we had," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said after his team finished at a school-best 30-3. "Long Beach State was an excellent team. Unfortunately, it took a game for us to get at a comfort level, but once we did that, I thought we played very well. "A few more points in Game 2, and it's a different ball game." The 49ers (30-3) advanced to Saturday night's regional championship against the winner of Thursday night's late second match between No. 3 Hawaii (29-1) and No. 13 Texas A&M (27-5). The winner goes to next week's final four, which also will be played at the Sheriff Center. Sophomore hitter Courtney Cox led the Rams with season-high 27 kills. Catie Vagneur, CSU's All-America candidate at outside hitter, finished her outstanding career with 24 kills, tying her best ever. Hawaii's late-arriving home crowd of some 6,500 fans got behind the Rams starting in Game 2. Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji had told his boosters at the team banquet Sunday night to "come early and cheer for the other team in green." CSU junior Summer Jennings, a Honolulu native, took notice. "I felt the crowd behind us, and it was a good feeling," she said. The Rams gave the Rainbow Wahine faithful, a decidedly anti49ers crowd, reason to cheer midway through the second game. Trailing 12-7, Cox served for six consecutive points, including two aces, to put the Rams ahead for the first time in the match at 13-12. But the 49ers didn't fold, with 6-foot-6 middle blocker Tayyiba Haneef putting down a service overpass to tie it at 13. Another service overpass resulted in a kill for Brandy Barratt and a 14-13 lead for Long Beach. Veronica Walls' next swing ended it. CSU fell behind 0-2 in four matches this season, rallying to win in five games three times. The Rams didn't look like they would push this match to four, though, finding themselves in a quick 0-6 deficit. CSU responded with eight straight points, but the 49ers appeared to regain control with a 5-0 run of their own to take a 13-8 lead. A block by Angela Knopf cut the momentum, and the lead to 13-11. Five minutes later, the Rams avoided being swept for the first time when Katherine Pettit served for the final four points. The Rams again had to rally in Game 4, coming back from 9-4 to close to 10-9. Long Beach sophomore blocker Cheryl Weaver put down three consecutive overpasses for three of her team-high 21 kills and a 13-9 lead. CSU held off three match points but Haneef's dink shot ended the match and the Rams' season.
The Rams fell down early in Game 1, hurt by uncharacteristic errors. Ahead 6-4, the 49ers went on a 9-1 run to close it out as Weaver scored three straight points on two overpasses and a block.
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