Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Preview ? NCAA Sweet Sixteen
12/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
How Sweet It Is: Colorado State advances to the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons. The Rams are 0-2 in the round of 16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. The Rams will be facing Florida on Friday and are 1-1 all-time against the Gators.
Ranked Win: In the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, 12th-ranked Colorado State swept 25th-ranked Maryland, 30-23, 30-28, 30-26 to advance to the Regional Semifinals. The Rams are now 30-4 on the season. Sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs led the Rams with 13 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers had 12 and junior middle blocker Bri Frech chipped in 10. Junior setter Melissa Courtney led the Rams with 11 digs and Frech led the team with four blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Casey Bauer was one of three players with two aces and served the final five points of the second game to lead the Rams to the comeback win.
Moving On: In the First Round, Colorado State swept the George Mason Patriots, 30-22, 30-24, 30-25 to advance to the Second Round. Colorado State was led by junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer with 14 kills, while Tess Rogers chipped in 13 and Dre Downs added 11 and hit .474 for the match. Both Sarauer and 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.
Every Night?s A Record: The Rams have now won 23 straight matches, dating back to a loss at Minnesota on Sept. 19, which sets the new school and Mountain West Conference record for consecutive matches won. The old record was 20 matches held by the 2001 team.
An Alarming Rate: Colorado State is now 30-4 this season which is a .882 winning percentage. That is the second best in school history, bettering the 2001 team?s record of 29-4. The 1999 team holds the record at .909 after going 30-3.
Looking Familiar: The Rams competed in the 2000 NCAA Regional Semifinal at USC. The three other teams in attendance were Florida, Penn State and USC. This season, three of the four teams will be the same at the regional, with USC being replaced by Kansas State. The Rams, Gators and Nittany Lions were also all at the NACWAA State Farm Classic together in Gainesville to start the 2000 season.
Post-Season Record: With the win over Maryland, Colorado State improved to 15-14 all-time in NCAA Tournament action since 1983. The Rams are 2-0 this season and since head coach Tom Hilbert?s arrival in 1997, have posted a 10-6 record in the NCAA Tournament.
A Helping Hand: Melissa Courtney has 1,589 assists this year, which is tied for the fourth best total in school history with Allison Peckham from 2000. She is eight assists shy of third, which is held by Robin Wilson from 1984 (1,597 assists). The single season record for assists is 1,771 held by Cindy Cox in 1986.
All-Tournament: Tess Rogers was named MVP of the Mountain West Tournament, while Bri Frech and Becky Sarauer were also on the all-tournament team. Melissa Courtney was named setter of the tournament and it is the second straight season she has been named to the Mountain West All-Tournament team.
Possible TV: All four regional finals will be televised live by ESPN. The matches will air on local ESPN cable affiliates, regional sports networks and over-the-air stations. The match between either Colorado State or Florida and Kansas State or Penn State will begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Saturday.
Balanced Attack: The key to Colorado State?s success this season has been its balance. Three players are averaging over 3.5 kills per game and all five of the starting hitters are hitting at a .231 pace or better for the year. The Rams also have four players who average at least 0.25 aces per game.
A Year of Firsts: Colorado State became the first team in Mountain West Conference history to go through the regular season undefeated, posting a 14-0 record. The Rams then became the first team in the conference to win both the regular season and the conference tournament, winning their second MWC Tournament title and the first since 1999.
Injury Update: Junior libero Lindsey Kerr has been cleared to begin practicing on Monday. Kerr underwent surgery a couple of weeks ago and has missed the last 10 matches. Junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley, who dislocated her right shoulder in practice last Thursday, played in the match against Maryland on Saturday, and will play this weekend.
All-Conference Honors: Melissa Courtney was named the Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Year and was also honored as the setter of the Year. Tess Rogers and Katie Jo Shirley were both named to the All-Conference team, and this is the second award for both of them. Courtney was also named to the all-conference team for the second straight year.
Eerily Similar: In both matches of the NCAA Tournament last weekend, the Rams had eight service aces and 15 errors in the two three game matches. The Rams had 58 kills and six blocks on Saturday and 54 kills and five blocks on Friday. The team hit over .300 in both matches, hitting .352 against George Mason and .373 against Maryland.
Frequent Fliers: The Rams traveled just over 1,500 miles for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, playing in College Park, Maryland. CSU will now travel another 1,480 miles to Gainesville, Florida for the Regional Semifinals. That?s close to 6,000 miles in 10 days for the Green and Gold.
Closing In: Several Colorado State student-athletes are getting closer to career milestones. With 83 more assists, Melissa Courtney will move into fourth on the career chart with 3,210 assists. Lindsey Kerr is five digs shy of 900 for her career, while Becky Sarauer needs five more for her 300th and Casey Bauer is six shy of her 100th. Tess Rogers needs just seven kills for the 800th of her career and is eight digs shy of 200.
Ticket Information for NCAA: Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens and $4 for children 12 and under for two-day passes. Single-session tickets can be purchased starting Thursday and will be $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens and $3 for children. For more information, please contact the UAA ticket office at (352) 375-4683, ext. 6800.
Turning It Up A Notch: Prior to the NCAA Tournament, Colorado State was averaging 16.62 kills per game and hitting at a .271 clip. The Rams were also averaging 1.92 aces, 12.57 digs and 15.14 assists per game. During the NCAA Tournament, the Rams have averaged 18.67 kills per game while hitting .364. They are also averaging 2.67 aces, 13.50 digs and 18.00 assists per game. Six of the seven players who have had at least 10 attacks in the NCAA Tournament are hitting at a better clip than they did in the regular season.
Quick Start Important: The first game of a match is extremely important this season for Colorado State. The Rams are 26-0 when winning game one of a match and 4-4 when losing the first stanza. They are also 23-0 when winning the first two games of a match and 0-2 when dropping the first two games.
Aces Are Wild: Melissa Courtney has 53 aces this season, which is tied for fourth on the Colorado State single-season charts. Bri Frech ranks right behind Courtney with 51 aces, which is sixth on the charts. The single season record for aces was set by Dre Downs last season when she recorded 59.
Queens Of the Mountain: Colorado State leads the league in hitting percentage (.275), opponent hitting percentage (.157), assists per game (15.25), kills (16.72) and aces (1.96). Individually, Katie Jo Shirley leads in hitting percentage (.418) and Melissa Courtney leads in assists (13.26).
Block Party: Katie Jo Shirley has quite a string of blocks going. The junior has had at least one block in the last 65 matches for the Rams, dating back to the opening match of the 2002 season. Bri Frech has tallied at least one block in all 34 matches this season. Dre Downs has an active streak of 14 matches going. Tess Rogers has tallied at least one block in the last 11 matches and in 22 of the last 23.
30-Win Barrier: Colorado State is now 30-4, marking only the third time in school history a volleyball team has won 30 matches in a season. The 1999 team was 30-3, losing in the Regional Semifinal to Long Beach State and the 2000 team posted a 32-5 record, losing in the Regional Semifinal to Penn State.
Holding Steady: The Rams are ranked 12th in the USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll for the third straight week. The Rams are receiving 927 points and have played six other teams currently ranked in the top 25, posting a 4-4 record against those six squads.
Serving It Up: Colorado State has tallied 235 aces on the season, which ranks second on the single-season charts. The record for aces is 278 by the 1984 team. The Rams are averaging 1.96 aces per game, which ranks among the top five in school history.
Solid Wall: Bri Frech now has 135 block assists this season, which is tied for sixth on the all-time school list with Diane Saba from 1986. Summer Jennings (2000) and Angie Miller (1988) are tied for fourth with 137 block assists and Melanie Williams is third with 138 in 1995. The school record for blocks assists is 191 held by Angela Knopf from the 2000 season.
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 112 matches since that time, trailing only Hawai?i, Florida, Nebraska, Northern Iowa and USC. See the box on page six for a complete list.
Early Starts: Colorado State has an impressive streak of wins when winning the first two games in a match. The Rams are 117-1 when winning the first two games in a contest since the beginning of the 1999 season and have won their last 41. The only loss during that stretch was the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament against Utah in 2001. This season, the Rams are 23-0 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.
Hitting For Numbers: Against Maryland, three Rams hit .500 or better in the match, with at least 10 attacks. Dre Downs hit a match-high .632 (13-1-19), while Katie Jo Shirley (8-1-14) and Casey Bauer (7-1-12) each hit .500.
A Tell-Tale Sign: Colorado State has won all 12 matches this season when hitting at least .300 in the match. The Rams hit over .300 in all three Mountain West Tournament matches in San Diego and in both NCAA Tournament matches in Maryland. Since Tom Hilbert became head coach at Colorado State, the Rams are 101-1 when hitting at least .300, with the lone loss coming against Penn State in the NCAA Regional Semifinal in 2000. (2003 - 12-0; 2002 - 8-0; 2001 - 21-0; 2000 - 21-1; 1999 - 19-0; 1998 - 9-0; 1997 - 19-0).
National Rankings: According to the NCAA statistics released Nov. 30 the Rams are ranked 11th in kills per game at 16.61, 18th in assists per game at 15.11 and 20th in hitting percentage at .270. The Rams also have the 8th best winning percentage at .875. Individually, Katie Jo Shirley ranks 9th, hitting .416 and Melissa Courtney ranks 20th with 13.13 assists per game.
Extra Point Games: Colorado State has played in 11 extra-point games this season and is 7-4 in those games, winning four of the last five. On four occasions the Rams have won 31-29, while two victories were 32-30 and one was 33-31. The Rams have dropped two games by the score of 30-32 and one each of the scores of 29-31 and 31-33.
Losing None, Gaining Three: Colorado State has a total of zero seniors on the 2003 roster and will add three extremely talented players next season. Freshman Tonya Mokelki is redshirting this season, but has been practicing all season with the Rams. Coach Tom Hilbert also has signed Hillary White and Mekana Barnes to national letters of intent for the 2004 season.
Quick Hits On Florida: The Gators are 33-1 on the season, losing only to top-ranked USC in the first match of the season. Florida has also swept its last 32 opponents, last losing a game on Aug. 23 to Kansas State.
Both Colorado State and Florida have played Kansas State, BYU, Stanford, Florida A&M and Minnesota this season. Florida is 5-0 against those teams, while the Rams went 3-3. This will be the third meeting in history between the Gators and Rams, with the series tied at one match each. In the last meeting, the Rams won a four-game match at Florida to start the 2000 season in the NACWAA State Farm Classic.
Florida is led by senior outside hitter Aury Cruz with 4.43 kills per game, while junior Sherri Williams is hitting a team-best .473 on the year. Setter Lauren Moscovic is averaging 13.12 assists per game and Cruz leads the team with 0.54 aces per contest and 3.30 digs per game. Williams also leads the team with 1.32 blocks per game.
The Gators are hitting .348 as a team, with 16.59 kills, 14.74 assists, 2.10 aces, 14.62 digs and 3.18 blocks per game. They defeated Georgia Southern and Central Florida in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, respectively. Florida is averaging 2,545 fans at home this season and are a perfect 15-0 in Gainesville.
Mary Wise is in her 13th season with the Gators and has a record of 428-42 at Florida. Overall, she is in her 17th season of coaching and posts a record of 509-105.
The Other Matchup: Kansas State and Penn State will face each other prior to the Florida, Colorado State match. Both teams are 30-4 on the year and won their respective regions on their home floors. Penn State has also played Colorado, BYU and Minnesota this season, posting a 2-2 record, while CSU went 3-1 against those three schools. Kansas State defeated Colorado State early in the season and also played South Florida, LSU and Colorado going 4-0 while CSU went 3-0 against the trio. Colorado State is 0-3 all-time against Penn State and 5-3 against Kansas State. In NCAA play, the Rams are 0-1 against Penn State (2000 Regional Semifinals) and 1-0 against Kansas State (1999 Second Round).
