Colorado State University Athletics
Next In Rams Volleyball ? University Park Classic
9/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
University Park Classic: For the second time in as many weeks, the Rams will play three matches in three days. Colorado State will host the University Park Classic, with Ohio, Pepperdine and Southern Miss coming to play in Moby Arena. This is the 17th annual classic and the first time any of the three visiting teams have played in the classic. CSU won the tournament every year from 1999 until 2002, finishing second last year to Stanford and have won 10 of 16 tournaments.
Player of Week: Senior setter Melissa Courtney was named the Mountain West Conference player of the week after helping lead the Rams to a 3-0 record on the week. Surprisingly, this is Courtney?s first player of the week award. For the week, she averaged 14.10 assists and 2.40 digs per game, while tallying four aces, 10 blocks and hitting .455 (13-3-22) in the three matches. Against Gonzaga, she recorded her 18th career double-double, notching 46 assists and 14 digs in the win. She also broke a 24-24 tie in game one against Colorado, serving five straight to give the Rams the win and eventually a sweep over CU.
Three in Three: Colorado State swept Gonzaga, 32-30, 30-25, 30-19 to win three matches in three days and improve its season record to 5-1. Junior outside hitter Tess Rogers blistered Gonzaga for 17 kills and hit .424 ? notching a season-high in kills. Senior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon had 12 kills and she also led the team with a .450 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Casey Bauer was the other Ram in double figures in kills with 11. Melissa Courtney led the Rams with 14 digs, notching her second double-double of the year (Minnesota). Courtney also led the team with two aces and Cahoon led all players with six blocks.
Rams Fight Back: Winning their second match in as many nights, Colorado State defeated Washington State in four games, 23-30, 30-15, 30-26, 30-23. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon led the Rams with 17 kills and a .414 hitting percentage, while Casey Bauer came off the bench to contribute 12 kills and both Tess Rogers and senior middle blocker Bri Frech chipped in 11 kills each. Sophomore libero Kristen Karlik recorded a career-high 17 digs to lead all players and Frech led the team for the second straight night in blocks, tallying five. Cahoon also led all players in the match with four aces.
Going For 200: The next win for Colorado State head coach Tom Hilbert will be his 200th as a Ram. Hilbert is 199-42 (.826) since joining the club in 1997. Overall, Hilbert is 373-114 (.766). He has won four consecutive Mountain West Regular Season Championships and has advanced to the NCAA every season as a coach at Colorado State. Hilbert is currently the ninth winningest active coach in Division I with his .766 winning percentage. Dave Shoji of Hawai?i leads the way with a .850 winning percentage.
Back To Back Doubles: Casey Bauer has notched double figure kills in the last two matches for the Rams. Bauer had 12 kills for her season high at Washington State and then answered with 11 against Gonzaga. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon also has a stretch of five consecutive double figure kill matches going this season.
Against 18: Colorado State is 3-10 all-time against the number 18 team in the nation. The Rams have not faced a team ranked 18th since Tom Hilbert?s arrival in 1997 and the last time was Aug. 31, 1996 -- a four-game win over Texas A&M in the UPHI Classic.
The Century Mark: Head Coach Tom Hilbert won his 100th match in Moby Arena against Idaho State. Hilbert is now 100-12 (.893) at home since joining the Rams in 1997. Six of those 12 losses have come to ranked teams, including three in the top 10.
Weird Week: Despite going 3-0 last week, the Rams dropped one spot in the poll, mostly because six of the top 10 teams in last week?s poll losing to a team ranked lower than them (or a non-ranked team). For the first time anyone can remember, the top four ranked teams in the poll lost in the same week. The highest ranking for a Colorado State volleyball team is 3rd, which the Rams held for five weeks during the 2000 season.
Picked First: A voting panel including the eight head coaches in the Mountain West Conference and selected media chose Colorado State as the favorite to win the 2004 MWC title. The Rams got 14 first-place votes and 118 points.
Most Common: Colorado State has been ranked 164 weeks since the AVCA poll began in 1982 (of 306 possible weeks), ranking as high as third in 2000 and spending at least one week at every spot from 3 to 25. The Rams have spent the most time, 13 weeks, ranked number 10, 11 (including this week) and 12. The least common ranking is 23, where the Rams have spent just one week.
Best In The Mountain West: The Rams lead the Mountain West in assists per game (15.90) and kills per game (17.14) after two weeks. The Rams are also second in digs with 14.81 and blocks with 2.95. Individually, Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon leads the league in hitting percentage at .429 and Melissa Courtney leads in assists at 13.38. Kristen Karlik is second in digs with 3.48 and five Ram hitters rank among the top 19 in kills per game. UNLV is next on the list with four in the top 20.
Moby Madness: After two weeks, the Rams rank fourth in attendance in the nation. The Rams are averaging 2,754 fans per match, trailing only Hawai?i (6,398), Nebraska (4,133) and Wisconsin (3,810). Behind the top six attendances of the year at Hawai?i, the Georgia Tech attendance of 3,986 ranks fifth.
Closing In: Several Rams are approaching career milestones. Melissa Courtney is just 11 digs shy of her 600th. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon is just 13 digs shy of the same milestone and the senior is just nine blocks shy of her 300th. Tess Rogers needs just 25 more kills for her 900th. Senior defensive specialist Kimi Foytich needs just three more digs for the 100th of her CSU career.
Its In The Numbers: Tess Rogers notched a season-high 17 kills at Gonzaga and hit a season-best .424 (17-3-33). She also had her first service ace of the year against the Bulldogs. Casey Bauer notched a season-high 12 kills at Washington State and took a season-high 27 swings at Gonzaga. Melissa Courtney notched season-highs in kills (5) and swings (9) as well as assists (53) against WSU. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon had her season-best hitting percentage against Colorado, hitting .688 (11-0-16) and had a career high four aces at WSU. Her season high in digs also came this week with eight at Gonzaga. Bri Frech tallied her season-high in aces with three against the Cougars and Kristen Karlik had the first kill of the season at WSU and notched her career high with 17 digs against the Cougars. Dre Downs tied her career-high with eight blocks and notched a career-high with seven block assists in the win over CU.
Hitting The Mark: Melissa Courtney notched the 200th kill of her career against Washington State and now has 206. Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon had her 800th career kill against Colorado and now has 831. Becky Sarauer totaled her 900th career kill against CU and now stands at 906. Casey Bauer notched her 100th dig against Gonzaga and has 104. Dre Downs totaled her 200th career block on Tuesday against the Buffaloes and now has 203.
Leading The Way: Since the inception of the Mountain West Conference in 1999, the Rams have the best composite record in the league at 148-28 (.841). The Rams have won 27 more matches than Utah which posts a 121-45 (.729) record since the start of the 1999 season. In conference play, the Rams are 64-6 (.914) in MWC action, while Utah is second at 53-17 (.757). Colorado State has more wins at home in the last five years (34), than four teams in the conference have overall victories.
Looking Good: Colorado State has won its last 33 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 November 2, 2002 -- a span of 34 matches.
Tuesdays With Tom: Join head coach Tom Hilbert, along with a player or two, every Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. at the University Park. Learn the inside scoop on the previous week, the upcoming matches and obscure statistics and strategies.
This Century: Since the beginning of the 2000 season, the Rams have won 118 matches, the sixth highest total in Division I. Hawai?i leads the way with 136 wins, while Florida is second with 133 and Nebraska (129), Northern Iowa (125) and USC (125) round out the top five.
Block Party: Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon has quite a string of blocks going. The senior has had at least one block in the last 71 matches for the Rams, dating back to the opening match of the 2002 season. Bri Frech has tallied at least one block in 40 of the 41 matches she has played in, with the lone exception being Minnesota. Tess Rogers has tallied at least one block in the last 18 matches and in 29 of the last 30. Becky Sarauer and Dre Downs both have at least one block in all six matches and Sarauer?s streak stands at eight 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.
Ranked Opponents: Colorado State is 1-1 in 2004 against ranked opposition. Last season, the Rams posted a 1-5 record against teams in the top 25 and are now 55-127 all-time against ranked opponents. Tom Hilbert is now 26-26 against teams in the top 25.
30-Win Club: For the third time in the last five years, Colorado State reached the 30-win plateau. The Rams were 30-5 in 2003 and are one of only seven teams to record at least three 30-win seasons in the last five years (since 1999). The others are Florida, Hawai?i, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Penn State and Stanford.
Rams Ride Waves: Colorado State volleyball will be on television at least four times this season. The Rams will face Pepperdine on Sept. 17 in the UPHI Classic. The match will be broadcast live on FSN Rocky Mountain. The Rams will also play back-to-back weeks on the CSTV Sunday Night Spike. On Sunday, Nov. 7 the Rams will play at Nebraska in a match broadcast live by CSTV. The next week, the Rams face the Utah Utes on the 13th, which will be tape-delayed until the 14th at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern)/2:30 p.m. (Mountain). The Rams will also play in front of a television audience during the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Quick Hits On Ohio: The Bobcats are receiving votes in this week?s AVCA/USA Today poll after starting the year with a 6-1 record. Ohio has just played one match at home -- a three-game sweep over Virginia Tech and are 4-0 on a neutral floor and 1-1 on the road.
Julia Winkfield leads the team with 4.19 kills per game, while Holly Schetzsle leads with a .484 hitting percentage. Briana Adamovsky is averaging 13.24 assists per game and Stephanie Blackburn leads with 0.43 aces per game. Libero Michaele Blackburn is averaging 4.71 digs per contest and Ashley Elliott has 31 blocks for a 1.48 per game average.
The Bobcats are hitting .306 on the season, with 16.52 kills, 1.81 aces, 14.62 digs and 2.83 blocks per game, compared to a .112 hitting percentage for their opponents to go along with 11.52 kills, 0.71 aces, 12.05 digs and 1.88 blocks per game.
Ohio coach Geoff Carlston is in his second season with the Bobcats and posts a 34-5 record. His career record now stands at 83-48 in his fifth year.
Quick Hits On Pepperdine: The Waves were ranked right ahead of the Rams in last week?s poll, but fell nine spots to 18th after dropping two matches over the weekend to bring their season record to 2-3. Pepperdine is 1-1 at home, 0-1 on the road and 1-1 on a neutral floor and all three losses have come to ranked teams (#1 USC, #18 Louisville, #19 Arizona).
Katy Daly is leading the squad in kills per game (4.25), hitting percentage (.220) and aces (0.30) and is second with 3.00 digs per game. Setter Melissa Melhorn is averaging 12.45 assists per game and she and Sophia Milo both have 20 blocks for a 1.00 per game average to tie for the team lead. Libero Christina Hinds leads the team with 5.65 digs per game.
Pepperdine is hitting just .177 for the year, but is averaging 16.10 kills, 1.05 aces, 17.25 digs and 2.05 blocks per game. The Waves? opponents have hit .223 with 14.70 kills, 1.30 aces, 18.00 digs and 2.88 blocks per contest.
Nina Matthies is in her 22nd year with Pepperdine and sports a career record of 413-239.
Quick Hits On Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles have started the 2004 season with a 3-2 record, going 2-2 on a neutral court and 1-0 on the road. Southern Miss has yet to play a home match.
The Golden Eagles have a well balanced attack with four hitters averaging between 2.14 and 2.91 kills per game, led by Jazzmien Stephens -- who is from the same hometown as CSU setter Melissa Courtney -- with 2.91. She also leads the team with 1.36 blocks per contest. Nicole Rock leads the team with a .355 hitting percentage. Setter Amy Truong is averaging 10.41 assists per game, while libero Amanda Blunck leads the team with 4.00 digs per game. Kaitlyn Deutsch is averaging 0.50 aces per game to leads the team.
Southern Miss is hitting just .163 on the year with 13.23 kills, 1.14 aces, 16.18 digs and 2.27 blocks per game. Its opponents have hit just .168 with 12.59 kills, 2.50 aces, 15.82 digs and 2.36 blocks per game.
Ricci Luyties is in his first season as a head coach and spent the past several years coaching right down the road at Colorado as an assistant to Pi?i Aiu. Luyties played at UCLA with Colorado State assistant coach Andy Klussmann.
