Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Falls To Florida In Regional Semifinal
12/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
In the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, the 12th-ranked Colorado State volleyball team was swept by the third-ranked Florida Gators 30-13, 30-22, 30-26.
Junior libero Lindsey Kerr returned to the court for the Rams after missing the past 10 matches with an injury. Kerr was the libero in the first two games and then freshman Kristen Karlik -- who has been the starting libero in Kerr?s absence -- stepped in as the libero in game three.
Colorado State was led by junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley with 14 kills and a .348 hitting percentage. She and junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer also had three blocks and junior setter Melissa Courtney led the Rams with 12 digs and 32 assists, marking her fourth straight double-double. The Rams had no service aces on the night and missed eight in the match. The team also hit .134 with six blocks on the evening.
?Obviously, Florida having an 11-0 run to start the match was a huge obstacle to overcome,? said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. ?But, I?m proud of my players and how then came back and fought after that stretch. We played pretty decent after game one. We missed some point opportunities late in game three, but Florida played great defense and they are a very good team.?
The Gators were led by senior outside hitter Aury Cruz with 12 kills, while middle blocker Sherri Williams added 11 and hit a match-high .529, while sophomore outside hitter Jane Collymore chipped in 10 kills. Collymore also led the team with 14 digs, while Cruz had four aces and 10 digs and Michelle Chatman had three blocks.
?We?ve got no seniors on this team,? continued Hilbert. ?So I?m pretty excited about our future at Colorado State.?
Florida scored the first eight points of the match behind the tough serving of Cruz. She had three aces in the first stretch and the Rams had three hitting errors. Hilbert used his first timeout, but the Gators scored the next three, including another ace by Cruz to lead 11-0. Shirley got a kill for the Rams to stop the run and the Rams scored four straight, including a solo block by Shirley to close within seven, 11-4. The teams traded points and then Florida scored five straight, using a variety of players to lead 17-5. The Rams scored the next two off kills by sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers and sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs, but Courtney missed a serve and then junior middle blocker Bri Frech hit a ball long to give the Gators the 19-7 advantage. The Rams scored the next two, to bring the score within 10, but Rogers then missed a serve and Cruz got a kill for the 21-9 lead. Downs got another CSU kill and Chatman hit a ball into the net for the 10-point spread again, but the Gators scored the next four to lead 25-11 and would go on to win 30-13. Downs and Shirley led the Rams with three kills each, but the team hit just .029 compared to a .343 hitting percentage for Florida.
Florida again took a big lead in the second game, scoring six of the first seven points. Frech got a kill to make the score 6-2, but the Gators scored the next three to extend the lead to seven. The Rams scored one off a Florida error, but the Gators scored the next three to lead 12-3 when Hilbert called a timeout. Williams blocked Downs out of the timeout but Sarauer got a kill to close within nine, 13-4. Shirley was called over the net on an attack but then the Rams went on a five-point run, including a block by Shirley and Sarauer to make the score 14-9 UF. Florida setter Lauren Moscovic dumped it and then Shirley got a kill for the Rams to make the score 15-10. Right side hitter Jacque Robinson got a Gator kill and then the Rams scored the next three on Florida errors to make the score 16-13 and Florida called for a break. Collymore got a kill after the timeout, but Courtney answered with one of her own for the 17-14 score. The teams traded points until 19-16 when Florida scored two straight, one after an extremely long rally to extend the lead to 21-16. Shirley got consecutive Ram kills for the 21-18 score, but Florida answered with two straight, including an ace to lead 23-18. Shirley got another kill and then Chatman hit one out of bounds and the Rams again pulled within three, 23-20. Cruz got a Florida kill and then Shirley again had back-to-back kills to close within two, 24-22, but the Gators scored the final six points of the game to win 30-22. Shirley led the Rams with five kills, but the Rams hit just .104 for the game. Florida hit .234 in the second stanza.
The third game was tied at one and two and the Rams took their first lead of the match off a Sarauer kill, who then got a solo block to give the Rams the 4-2 lead. Frech missed her serve, but then Sarauer got another kill for the 5-3 Ram lead. Cruz got consecutive kills to tie the score at 5-5 and it was tied at six and seven before the Gators took a two point lead, 9-7. Rogers got a kill and then she and Frech combined on a block to tie the score at 9-9. It was again tied at 10-10 and then the Gators scored three straight, two off CSU errors to lead 13-10. The Rams scored the next two off kills by Downs and a block by Sarauer and Shirley, but the Gators got a point off a CSU error for the 14-12 lead. Sarauer got a kill and then Courtney hit one out of bounds for the 15-13 Florida lead. The Rams scored the next three to take the 16-15 lead, but the Gators scored three straight of their own to take the 18-16 advantage. The Rams scored the next two to knot the score at 18-18, including a kill by Courtney. Florida scored two straight, but then Courtney had a solo block for the 20-19 Florida lead. The Rams committed an error and then Frech got a kill to keep the lead at one for Florida, 21-20. The Gators again had a three-point run to lead 24-20, but the Rams answered with two straight, including a kill by Sarauer to pull within two, 24-22. Florida scored the next four points to lead 28-22 and then Shirley got a kill, followed by a Cruz kill for Florida to give the Gators match point. The Rams rattled off three straight kills, two by Shirley to close within three, 29-26, but the Gators scored the next point on a missed serve by Sarauer to win 30-26. Both the Rams and Gators hit .270 in the third stanza and Shirley led the way with six kills for CSU.
Colorado State will return to Fort Collins tomorrow. Florida will face Penn State in the regional finals tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. (Eastern). The Nittany Lions advanced after defeating Kansas State in four games in the early match.
