Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Travels To Wyoming
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2005
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Border War: Friday marks the 59th meeting between Colorado State and Wyoming, with the Rams owning a 40-18 lead in the all-time series. The match back on Sept. 30 was a barn burner, going five games -- with the Rams escaping with a victory in Moby Arena. This match marks the final of a four-match road trip for the Rams.
TCU Recap: Colorado State fell in five games to TCU at the University Rec Center to drop its second straight road match in Mountain West Conference play for the first time in league history. The Rams ended the match with five players in double figures in kills, led by senior outside hitter Tess Rogers with 16, while freshman middle blocker Mekana Barnes and senior outside hitter Casey Bauer tallied 13, senior middle blocker Dre Downs added 12 and sophomore right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki chipped in 10. Barnes also hit a team-high .348 hitting percentage. Junior libero Katherine Whitney led the match with 19 digs and tied for the match lead with three aces. Downs also led the team with six blocks. Mokelki notched her first career double-double adding 10 digs to her 10 kills.
New Mexico Recap: Colorado State dropped its second conference match of the season, falling the New Mexico in four games, 18-30, 30-22, 30-20, 30-26. Mekana Barnes recorded a career-high 14 kills and hit .348 on the evening, while the three seniors, Casey Bauer, Dre Downs and Tess Rogers all tallied 12 kills. Downs led the match with a .455 hitting percentage. Katherine Whitney led the match with 17 digs and Tonya Mokelki, playing back row for the first time in her career, notched a career-high 14 digs and freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom chipped in 11 digs and two aces.
All The Way: Tonya Mokelki began playing both in the front and back row for the first time against New Mexico on Saturday evening and has responded well to the added pressure. The sophomore notched a career-high 14 digs against the Lobos and then on Tuesday at TCU, notched her first career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Mokelki is averaging 2.67 digs per game since beginning play in the back row.
A Conference First: For the first time in the history of the Mountain West Conference, the Colorado State volleyball team lost back-to-back matches. The Rams fell in four to New Mexico and then dropped a five-game match at newcomer TCU on Tuesday. Colorado State still has an 82-10 (.891) record in league action since the beginning of the 1999 season -- tops in the league.
Killing Machine: Tess Rogers notched her 1,400th career kill with the first point of game two against TCU on Tuesday. The senior becomes just the eighth player in school history to surpass 1,400 kills as she now has 1,414. She needs just nine more kills to take over the seventh spot, currently held by Rainie Rogers (1994-97) with 1,422.
Starting Hot: During the three match road trip, the Rams were victorious in all three game ones. The Rams hit .309 during the three first games, but dropped to a .162 hitting percentage for the second game, where the team went 2-1 over the weekend.
Serving Streaks: Tonya Mokelki tied for the longest serving streak of the season when she served seven straight against Air Force on Friday. Ashley Fornstrom also served seven straight points for the Rams in game one against Texas Tech. Both Ashley and Brittany Fornstrom also have streaks of six straight serves this season.
Seeing Double: All five starting hitters were in double figures in kills against TCU, marking just the second time this season that feat has occurred (Northern Iowa). Tess Rogers led the way with 16 kills, while Casey Bauer and Mekana Barnes each had 13, Dre Downs tallied 12 and Tonya Mokelki chipped in 10.
Aces High: Colorado State notched a season-high 10 aces against Air Force, and committed just four service errors -- the first time all year the Rams had more aces than errors. The Rams averaged 1.75 aces per game on the three-match road trip, bringing their season average up to 1.29 per game from 1.19 before the road trip.
Getting Offensive: Ashley Fornstrom notched a career-high five kills against TCU on Tuesday. The freshman setter also had tied her career-high with four against New Mexico in the previous match. For the week, Fornstrom averaged 0.92 kills per game. She also tied her career-high with 11 digs against TCU and averaged 2.08 per game over the three-matches.
Digging Doubles: With her 19 digs against TCU, Katherine Whitney notched her eighth-straight double figure dig match. She has double figures in 14 of the Rams 18 matches and in three of the matches where she did not record double figure digs, she was the team's setter. Whitney is averaging a team-best 3.85 digs per game this season, which is also the third best single-season average in school history.
Behind The Line: Colorado State has started to turn around its service woes. In the last five matches, the Rams have averaged 1.65 aces per game with 2.60 errors per game. Casey Bauer is positive in the ace-to-error ratio at 8-7, while three players -- Ashley Fornstrom (8-8), Katherine Whitney (7-7) and Dre Downs (3-3) are even.
Balanced Attack: CSU is the only team in the Mountain West to have all five hitters average at least 2.00 kills per game (Casey Bauer 3.73, Tess Rogers 3.60, Dre Downs 2.83, Tonya Mokelki 2.45 and Mekana Barnes 2.18). The Rams are averaging 15.91 kills per game this season to rank a close second in the Mountain West Conference behind undefeated BYU (15.97). Six other teams in the conference have four hitters averaging 2.00 or more kills per game.
How Grand: The second point of the first game against Texas Tech was a kill for Dre Downs, marking her 1,000th career kill. She becomes the 17th player in school history to pass the one grand mark and is now 16th on the career charts with 1,040 kills. She also becomes the third player in the Mountain West this season to surpass 1,000 kills and the 17th player in league history, with six being Rams.
Building Blocks: In conference play, Dre Downs is averaging 1.77 blocks per game to lead the league, while Ashley Fornstrom ranks 10th with 1.12 per game. As a team, the Rams are second in the conference with 3.44 blocks per game against conference foes and 3.43 blocks per game against all opponents to lead the league.
Leaps and Bounds: Tess Rogers and Dre Downs have already climbed up the career charts quite a bit in the first half of the season. Rogers has moved up six spots on the solo blocks chart from 14th to eighth with 65 solo stops. She has climbed five spots in the career attacks chart to sixth with 3,364 and has moved up four spots on the career kills chart to eighth with 1,414. Downs has moved up eight spots on the block assists chart to eighth with 329, up six spots to 12th in blocks per game with 0.97, up five in total blocks to 12th with 371 and up three spots in career kills to 16th with 1,040.
Kat-Like Reflexes: Katherine Whitney is averaging 3.85 digs per game this season which is the third highest single-season average in school history and the second highest average by a libero. The school record is 3.90 digs per game held by libero Lindsey Kerr from 2002. Whitney has now tallied double figure digs in the last eight matches and in 14 of the last 15 and ranks fourth in the Mountain West against all opponents and third in conference matches.
Home Sweet Home: Colorado State is currently 8-1 in the friendly confines of Moby Arena and have enjoyed great success at home, posting an all-time record of 243-66 (.786). With Tom Hilbert at the helm, the Rams are an amazing 126-15 (.894) in Moby Arena.
Setting The Table: Ashley Fornstrom ranks fourth on the freshman assists chart with 671 this season and is just 24 away from third. The freshman record for assists in a season is 1,334 by Analisa Saylor in 1994. Fornstrom also ranks fifth in blocks per game (0.95) and ninth in digs per game (1.92) on the freshman charts, while her 10.82 assists per game ranks third. On the career charts, Fornstrom ranks seventh in assists per game at 10.82 and 11th in total assists with her 671.
The Barnes Supremacy: Mekana Barnes already ranks seventh on the freshman block assists record with 68 and is also seventh in total blocks with 74. Her 1.14 blocks per game is tied for second with the school's all-time leading blocker Angela Knopf (1998-2001). Barnes is also closing in on the top 10 for freshman kills. She currently has 142 and 10th on the freshman lists is Becky Sarauer with 169 from 2001.
Honored: Casey Bauer was named the Mountain West Player of the Week after leading the Rams to a pair of victories at San Diego State and UNLV. For the week, Bauer averaged 5.57 kills and 2.71 digs per game, while hitting .360 (39-8-86). She also totaled six blocks and three aces, earning her first career award.
Conference Career Leaders: With her last kill against Texas Tech, Tess Rogers moved into fourth all-time in career kills in the Mountain West Conference. She now has 1,414, passing BYU's Nina Puikkonen (1999-01). Rogers is 12 shy of passing former Ram standout Courtney Cox, who had 1,425 in the MWC (1999-01). In conference only matches, Rogers is the only active player ranked in the top 10, now ranking third with 610 kills. She needs 89 kills to take over second from Delavane Diaz of Air Force (2000-03) who tallied 698 and 117 to take over the record of 726 from Kim Turner of Utah (2000-03).
League Leaders: Colorado State continues to lead the Mountain West in assists (14.67) and blocks (3.43) per game. The Rams also rank second in hitting percentage (.229) and kills (15.91). Individually, Dre Downs leads the conference with 1.54 blocks per game and is third in hitting percentage at .336. In conference matches only, the Rams are second in blocks (4.44). Downs leads the league with 1.77 blocks per game, while Katherine Whitney is third in digs (3.97).
News & Notes:
* Mekana Barnes is 26 blocks shy of her 100th career block and needs 58 kills for 200.
* Barnes needs two more block assists and 11 more total blocks to move into sixth in both categories among freshman.
* Casey Bauer recorded her 600th kill against New Mexico and now has 614.
* Dre Downs is 29 blocks shy of her 400th career block.
* Downs needs 27 kills to move into 15th on the career chart.
* Downs needs three more block assists to move into seventh on the career chart.
* With four more total blocks Downs will move into 11th and with seven more will crack the top 10 on the career lists.
* Ashley Fornstrom needs 29 assists for her 700th.
* With 25 assists, Fornstrom will move into third on the freshman assists chart and 10th on the career chart.
* Tonya Mokelki notched her 200th career kill against TCU and now has 209.
* Tess Rogers tallied her 1,400th career kill against TCU and now has 1,414.
* With nine more kills, Rogers will rank seventh in school history in career kills.
* Freshman defensive specialist Jaime Strauss is 22 digs shy of her 100th.
* Katherine Whitney notched her 400th career dig at CSU against TCU and now has 402.
* Colorado State is a perfect 15-0 against Air Force, 14-0 against UNLV and 13-0 against Wyoming since the inception of the Mountain West.
Nationally Ranked: In the NCAA statistics through Oct. 23, Colorado State ranks 6th in blocks per game (3.53) and 26th in assists per game (14.84). Individually, Dre Downs ranks 14th in blocks per game with 1.57.
Going The Distance: Colorado State is 2-2 in five-game matches this season, and a perfect 2-0 at home. Since head coach Tom Hilbert joined the team in 1997, the Rams are 12-6 (.667) in Moby in five-game matches with three of those losses coming either in the Mountain West or NCAA Tournament. Overall, the Rams are 23-12 in five-game matches in Hilbert's tenure (.657).
Picked Third: CSU was chosen by the Mountain West coaches and selected media to finish third in the regular season race in the preseason poll. CSU has won at least a share of the last five regular season titles in the Mountain West Conference, with the first year of the league, 1999, being the only season the Rams have not had their hands on a regular season title. The Rams have also won the last two Mountain West Conference Tournament titles.
Tuesdays With Tom: Join head coach Tom Hilbert, along with a player or two, every Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. at the Hilton. Learn the inside scoop on the previous week, the upcoming matches and obscure statistics and strategies.
Scouting The Opposition:
Wyoming: The Cowgirls are 7-12 overall this season and 2-6 in Mountain West Conference play but have won their last two league matches, defeating New Mexico in five games and sweeping Air Force.
Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Smith paces the Cowgirls with 3.63 kills per game, while senior middle blocker Andrea Seele is hitting a team-best .254. Wyoming also has a freshman setter in Tasha Weishahn, who averages 10.65 assists per game. Samantha Eley leads the team with 30 aces, though Wyoming has five player on the team with at least 20 aces on the year. Freshman libero Carissa Lee leads the team with 3.36 digs per contest, while middle blockers Seele and sophomore Lauren Scott both average a team-best 0.82 blocks per game.
As a team, Wyoming is hitting .178 on the year with 13.32 kills, 11.96 assists, 1.83 aces, 14.42 digs and 1.90 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .190 with 14.43 kills, 13.01 assists, 1.46 aces, 14.72 digs and 2.82 blocks per game.
In conference matches, Smith is averaging 3.24 kills per game, while fellow outside hitter Kelsey Loop is at 2.67 per contest. Weishahn averages 10.46 assists and leads the team with 0.50 aces per game. Lee leads the team with 2.41 digs per game, but both Michelle Weydert (2.27) and Smith (2.03) are also over two digs per game. Scott leads the team with 0.96 blocks per game against league foes.
The Cowgirls are hitting .171 in league matches, with 12.86 kills, 11.62 assists, 1.34 aces, 12.17 digs and 1.74 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .238 with 15.31 kills, 13.86 assists, 1.62 aces, 13.21 digs and 3.02 blocks per game.
Pat Stangle is in his second season with the Cowgirls and sports a career record of 20-26 and is 8-14 in Mountain West play. Stangle is 0-3 against Colorado State in his career.