Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Sweeps George Mason In NCAA Opener
12/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
In the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, the 12th-ranked Colorado State volleyball team swept the George Mason Patriots, 30-22, 30-24, 30-25 to advance to the Second Round. The Rams improve to 29-4 on the season while the Patriots end their season at 16-15.
Colorado State was led by junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer with 14 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers chipped in 13 and sophomore Dre Downs added 11 and hit .474 for the match. Both Sarauer and junior setter Melissa Courtney had three aces and Courtney also added a match-high 10 digs. Downs led all players with three blocks. The rams hit .352 for the match, holding the Patriots to a .140 hitting percentage.
Junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley did not play for the Rams after injuring her shoulder in practice on Thursday. Downs -- who usually starts on the right side -- started in Shirley?s place and sophomore Casey Bauer started on the right side.
George Mason was led by three-time CAA Player of the Year Aline Pereira with 12 kills and Natalia Porosa added 10. Zulma Rojas led the Patriots with nine digs and Katie Gaudreault led the team with two blocks and three aces.
?We sided out when we needed to today,? said head coach Tom Hilbert. ?We kept their (GMU) point runs down and our passing was pretty good. Our biggest goal was to handle Pereira and I thought we did a nice job of blocking her. Tess had a great match and Dre had a great match oout of the middle -- and she never plays there, but I really thought the difference maker tonight was Melissa Courtney. She was very solid.?
Colorado State scored the first three points of the first game, getting a kill from Downs and an ace by Courtney to start things off. George Mason scored the next three points, but the Rams then rattled off four straight, including another kill by Downs to lead 7-3. Bauer hit one out of bounds for CSU, but Downs got her third kill to lead 8-4. The teams traded points until 11-7, when Downs got another kill for the 12-7 advantage. George Mason scored three of the next four points, two off CSU errors to close within three, 13-10, but the Rams scored the next three, two off kills by Bauer and a Bauer and Downs block for the 16-10 lead. The Patriots called their first timeout and scored the next two off the break, but Sarauer got a CSU kill for the 17-12 lead. The teams again traded points until 20-15, when Downs got a kill for the 21-15 lead. George Mason again scored three of the next four points for the 22-18 CSU lead. Rogers and Sarauer got back-to-back kills for the 24-18 lead. Rogers missed her next serve, but the Rams scored the next three for the 27-19 lead and the would win 30-22. Downs led the team with six kills as the Rams hit .500 for the first game.
The Rams scored the first two points of the second game of Courtney aces. Porosa got a kill for the Patriots, but then Rogers answered for the 3-1 lead. CSU scored the next two off George Mason errors but then Rogers missed a serve to make the score 5-2. Sarauer got a kill and then Downs missed a serve for the 6-3 lead. Pereira hit one in the next for George Mason, but the Patriots rattled back for the next two for the 7-5 CSU lead. The Rams scored the next two, one off an ace by Sarauer to lead 9-5. The Patriots scored the next two and the teams traded points until 12-10. CSU scored the next two points off kills by Downs and Bauer for the 14-10 lead. The teams went back-and-forth until 18-15 when Colorado State scored four straight, including kills by Bauer, Downs and Sarauer for the 22-15 advantage. After Rogers missed a serve, the Rams scored the next two, including an ace by Downs to lead 24-16. George Mason pulled within four after scoring four straight and then scored two of the next three to close within three, 25-22. The Rams got a kill by Frech and an ace by Sarauer to lead 27-22 and would get another ace by Frech down the stretch to win 30-24. Rogers and Sarauer each had four kills as the Rams hit just .179 for the second game, but held GMU to .100 and just nine kills.
After George Mason scored the first point of game three, the Rams rattled off the next three behind the tough serving of Courtney. Trailing 5-2, George Mason tied the score at 5-5. The score was again tied at six, seven, nine, 11, 12 and 14 before the Rams scored two striaght off kills by Downs and Sarauer for the 16-14 lead. The teams traded points until 18-17 CSU when Courtney scored for CSU on a dump and then George Mason had an error for the 20-17 lead. After trading points until 21-19, the Rams scored back-to-back on kills by Rogers and Sarauer for the 23-19 advantage.
