Colorado State University Athletics
Next In Rams? Volleyball ? vs. Denver
10/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Shocking Win: Recording her 1,000 career kill and a season-high 20 kills on the evening, Colorado State junior outside hitter Tess Rogers led the ninth-ranked CSU volleyball team to a four-game victory over the Air Force Academy Falcons, 30-14, 30-23, 28-30, 30-22 to improve to 16-2 on the year and 8-1 in Mountain West Conference play. Rogers was one of four Rams in double figures in kills, with senior middle blocker Bri Frech recording 14, junior outside hitter Casey Bauer tallying 12 and junior right side hitter Dre Downs killing 10 in just three games. Rogers also tied her career-high with 10 digs to lead the Rams and both Frech and senior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon recorded four blocks.
Number 500: Colorado State head coach Tom Hilbert will be coaching in his 500th career match on Tuesday evening against Denver. Hilbert is 384-115 in his 16th season as a head coach and has 210 victories at Colorado State is his eighth year with the Rams.
A Grand Time: Tess Rogers reached her 1,000th kill in the 81st match and 271st game of her career. Sherri Danielson (1982-85) reached her 1,000th kill in 240 games and Rainie Rogers (1994-97) hit 1,000 in 265 games. Both Tess Rogers and Jill Johnson (1987-90) reached the milestone in 271 games to tie for the third fastest to 1,000. Rogers is only the seventh player in school history to break the one grand mark as a junior and the top six on the career chart all did so as juniors.
Remaining Steady: Colorado State has now been ranked in the top 10 the last six weeks as the Rams are ninth in the USA Today/CSTV Coaches? Top 25 poll for the second straight week. The Rams have now been ranked ninth for seven weeks since 1982 and have been ranked 168 weeks out of 310 possible weeks .
News & Numbers: Colorado State has hit over .300 in six of the last nine matches, including three over .400 and is hitting a Mountain West best .292 for the year, including .312 in conference play.
Serving Struggles: Melissa Courtney, the eighth ranked player in career aces in school history with 123, has not had an ace in the last three matches, and has missed at least two serves in the last nine outings. The senior has yet to record an ace in road conference matches this season, posting 0 aces and 10 errors in the first four road matches. She is averaging 0.26 aces per game this season, down from the last two years where she averaged 0.43 per game (100 aces, 231 games).
Dominance: Through the first nine matches in Mountain West Conference play, the Rams are averaging 5.97 more kills per game than their opponents. CSU leads the league with 17.87 kills per game, while its opponents are averaging just 11.90 kills per game. CSU is also hitting over .150 points better than its conference opposition. The Rams are hitting .312 in conference play and limiting opponents to a league-low .147 -- a difference of .165.
Tough Defense: Colorado State has held five opponents this season to a hitting percentage of .100 or below. Since Tom Hilbert joined Colorado State in 1997, the Rams have held 78 opponents (of 253 -- 30.8%) to .100 or lower, including 17 to .000 or below. No opponent has hit .300 against the Rams this season and only one, Minnesota, has hit above .250.
Home Sweet Home?: Colorado State is hitting better on the road this season than at home (.315-.277) and is holding its opponents to a lower hitting percentage (.157-.162). The rams are also blocking slightly better on the road (2.96-2.89). The Rams are serving better in Moby Arena (1.76-1.29) and are getting more digs at home (14.55-13.71). The Rams are 9-2 at home this season and are 7-0 on the road, though all four ranked opponents have been faced in Moby Arena.
Keys To Success: In all 16 wins this season, the Rams have tallied more kills than the opponent, have hit for a higher percentage and held the opposition to .235 or lower. In the two losses, the Rams have trailed in attack percentage and have hit under .300 for the match.
Hitting For Numbers: In 13 of the 18 matches this season, Bri Frech has hit at least .300 with five or more kills. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon has hit the same mark in 13 matches, while Dre Downs has done so in 10 of the 17 matches in which she?s played.
Double Grand Watch: Two more Rams are closing in on 1,000 career kills. There have only been 14 Rams in school history to eclipse the one grand mark and surprisingly, this could be the second time three players have done it in the same year (1997 - Rainie Rogers, Janie Penfield and Judy Rexroth). Tess Rogers hit the mark against Air Force and now has 1,016 to rank 13th, while Becky Sarauer is 15th with 977 kills and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon is 17th with 946 kills.
Keep Her Traveling: Casey Bauer must like the other cities in the Mountain West Conference. In road league matches, the junior leads the team with a .361 hitting percentage (33-11-61). At home against conference foes, she is hitting just .033 (25-22-90).
A Negative Into A Positive: Only five times in the first 18 matches have the Rams committed less service errors than the opponent (Georgia Tech, Idaho State, Pepperdine, BYU, Air Force), however in 12 of those matches, the Rams have more aces than the opposition and are averaging 1.58 aces per game, compared to 1.00 for the opponents.
Two-Year Sensation: Bri Frech will be remembered as one of the best blocking players in school history. The senior has 230 blocks in her year-and-a-half with the Rams, which ranks second among Colorado State two-year players. The only other two-year player with more blocks is Angie Miller (1988-89) with 377 blocks, which ranks ninth all-time.
Tested: Colorado State has yet to play a five-game match this season and only eight of the 18 matches -- including both losses -- have gone four games. The last five-game match was in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament against San Diego State -- a span of 24 matches.
Digging Machine: Kristen Karlik has recorded double-figure digs in four of the last five matches, including a career-high 20 against Utah and now has 11 double-figure dig matches this season. The sophomore has had at least five digs in all but one match this season and has 13 with nine or more digs. Karlik has 208 digs this season (3.35 per game) to lead the team and ranks sixth in the Mountain West in digs per game.
Sarauer Steps Up: In non-conference play, Becky Sarauer hit .177 with 2.55 kills per game. In the first five conference matches, she hit .385 with a team-best 3.93 kills per game -- increasing her hitting percentage by .208 and kills per game by 1.38.
Best In The Mountain West: The Rams lead the Mountain West in hitting percentage (.292), assists per game (16.08) and kills per game (17.40). Individually, Melissa Courtney leads in assists at 13.92, while Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon ranks second in hitting percentage (.385), Bri Frech ranks second in aces (0.47) and Tess Rogers ranks second in kills per game (3.79). In conference matches only, the Rams lead in hitting percentage (.312), assists (16.27), opponent hitting percentage (.147), kills (17.87) and aces (1.67). Individually, Courtney leads in assists per game (14.37) and Frech leads in aces (0.67), while Cahoon is second in hitting percentage (.382) and Rogers is second in kills per game (3.86).
Balanced Attack: In eight of the 18 matches this season (Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Washington State, Ohio, Pepperdine, UNLV, Utah and Air Force), four Rams have been in double figures in kills, and in six others (Colorado, Gonzaga, Southern Miss, New Mexico, San Diego State and New Mexico), three Rams have notched at least 10 kills. The Rams are averaging 17.40 kills per game, compared to 13.02 for their opponents.
Moby Madness: The Rams rank 8th in attendance this week. They are averaging 2,035 fans per match, trailing Hawai?i (6,861), Nebraska (4,521), Wisconsin (3,981), Minnesota (3,304), Florida (2,630), Penn State (2,487) and Washington (2,410). Colorado State has ranked among the top 25 in attendance the last five years and in all but one year since the statistic began being tracked in 1986. The 2,035 fans is the fourth highest total in school history, ranking behind 2001 (2,846 -- 4th), 1987 (2,229 -- 2nd) and 1988 (2,206 -- 1st).
Consistency Is Key: Colorado State has gone at least 6-1 in the first half of Mountain West Conference play every year of the league's existence. Four times the Rams have gone 6-1 (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004) and twice the Rams have gone 7-0 (2001, 2003).
Hard To Stop: Colorado State has such a balanced attack this season, an opponent has a hard time trying to stop the ?go-to? player. Five different Rams have led the team in kills in a match this year, eight different Rams have led in hitting percentage (minimum five kills), eight have led the team at least once in aces, four have led in digs and four different players have led the team in blocks.
Rams On The Air: Every match this season will be broadcast on the internet on Yahoo! sports. The play-by-play duties are being handled by Chris Dittmer, while Travis Huntington does the color commentary in home games and Heather Kennedy in road contests. Tyler Krause also helps out.
Early Starts: Colorado State has won its last 55 matches when winning the first two games of a match. The Rams are 131-1 since the beginning of the 1999 season, losing only in the Mountain West Championship to Utah in 2001. In 2004, the Rams are 14-0 when winning the first two games, while in 2003 they were 23-0, 17-0 in 2002, 25-1 in 2001, 28-0 in 2000 and 24-0 in 1999.
Among The Best: In the most recent NCAA Statistics (through 10/17), Melissa Courtney ranks 8th in assists per game, averaging 13.73 and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon ranks 27th in hitting percentage at .382. The Rams rank fifth in assists per game (15.95), ninth in kills per game (17.24), 10th in hitting percentage (.291), 18th in winning percentage (.875) and 25th in blocks per game (2.93).
Looking Good: Colorado State has won its last 43 matches against unranked opponents. The Rams last loss against a non-ranked team came in the NCAA Tournament in 2002 at the hands of Washington. The last regular season loss against an unranked opponent came at San Diego State on Nov. 2, 2002 -- a span of 44 matches.
Wearing Their Hearts On Their Sleeves: This season, the Colorado State volleyball team is wearing an emblem on all of their game attire and practice gear. Assistant coach Andy Klussmann was injured in a car accident in June that took the life of his wife, Janna. The emblem on the jerseys this year is a memorial for Janna as well as support for Andy?s full recovery. The team is dedicating this season to the Klussmanns and the heart is just one way the team is showing their feelings and well wishes for their coach.
