Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Two
11/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2005
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Series History: UNLV In the first meeting this season, the Rams escaped Las Vegas with a four-game victory over the Rebels. Colorado Sate is now 19-2 all-time against UNLV, including a perfect 9-0 record in Moby Arena. The Rams have won the last 14 meetings between the two squads and have never lost in Mountain West Conference action. Also, the last five matches in Moby have been three-game sweeps for the Rams.
Series History: San Diego State The Rams swept the Aztecs in San Diego earlier this season, bringing the all-time series to a 17-14 CSU advantage. Colorado State has won the last six meetings between the two teams and 14 of the last 15 matches. The last three have been three-game sweeps for the Rams and CSU has been victorious in the last seven matches in Moby Arena.
Home Again: After the longest road trip of the season, the Rams return home to host UNLV on Friday and San Diego State on Saturday. The Rebels are right ahead of the Rams in the conference standings, while the Aztecs are just below CSU. Colorado State defeated both teams earlier this season on the road.
Wyoming Recap: Colorado State (13-6, 6-3) swept the second installment of the "Border War", defeating Wyoming (7-13, 2-7), 30-20, 30-27, 30-17 at the UniWyo Sports Complex. CSU was led by senior middle blocker Dre Downs with 14 kills, a .542 (14-1-24) hitting percentage and six blocks, while senior outside hitter Casey Bauer notched 10 kills and a match-high 17 digs. Freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom tied her career-high with five kills and established a new career-high with 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Tess Rogers moved into seventh on the career kills chart with nine on the evening, bringing her career total to 1,423. She passes Rainie Rogers (1994-97), who notched 1,422 in her career. Freshman middle blocker Mekana Barnes also tied for match-highs with six blocks on the evening.
Honored: Ashley Fornstrom earned Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week, marking her first career award. In a five-game match vs. TCU, she tallied 55 assists, six digs, a career-best five kills in nine attacks (.444 hitting efficiency) and three total blocks. In a three-game sweep over Wyoming, Fornstrom recorded a double-double with 43 assists and a career-high 14 digs. She also tied her career high in kills (five) and collected three total blocks. Her three blocks gave the Rams their final three points of the match and the victory. For the week, Fornstrom averaged 12.25 assists, 2.75 digs and 1.25 kills per game, with a hitting percentage of .529 (10-1-17). She also had a total of six blocks (one solo, five assists) and a service ace. Her assist total vs. Wyoming moved her into 10th place on the CSU career assists chart. As a team, Colorado State hit .276 on the week, besting its season average by over 40 points.
Killing Machine: Tess Rogers moved into 7th on the career kills chart against Wyoming on Friday. She now has 1,423 kills, which also ranks fourth in MWC history. With three more kills, she will pass former Ram standout Courtney Cox, who tallied 1,425 from 1999-01.
Back On Track: Colorado State snapped a two-match losing streak with a three-game sweep over Wyoming. It marked the first time in league history the Rams had lost back-to-back conference matches.
Block Steady: Dre Downs recorded six blocks against Wyoming, marking the 11th time this season and the 24th time in her career she's blocked at least six balls in a match. Her 12 blocks against Wyoming on Sept. 30 ties for the most in the conference this season and she's one of five players in the league to tally 10 or more blocks in a match and just one of three to do so on multiple occasions.
Setting Them Up: Ashley Fornstrom moved into 10th on the CSU career assists chart and now has the third most by a freshman in school history. Her 10.98 assists per game also ranks third on the freshman charts at CSU. She also is now tied for 10th on the freshman blocks chart with 54. Fornstrom needs just 182 more assists to move into ninth on the career charts (895, Tara Holland, 1990-91).
Moving On Up: Dre Downs moved up two spots to a tie for 10th in total blocks in school history with 377. She ties Esther Langley (1995-98). Downs also moved into 7th in career block assists with 334.
Human Shovel: Casey Bauer notched a career-high 17 digs at Wyoming and marked the first time in six matches Katherine Whitney did not lead the team in digs. Bauer's 17 digs also ties for the 15th most in a three-game match in school history and is the 15th time this year a Ram has had at least 15 digs in a match.
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 3.71, Tess Rogers 3.57, Dre Downs 2.91, sophomore right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki 2.46 and Mekana Barnes 2.22). The Rams are averaging 16.01 kills per game this season to lead the Mountain West Conference. Six other teams in the conference have four hitters averaging 2.00 or more kills per game.
Kat-Like Reflexes: Junior libero Katherine Whitney is averaging 3.78 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 14 of the last 15 matches and ranks fourth in the Mountain West against all opponents and fifth in conference matches (3.83).
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.
Pass The Potatoes: Katherine Whitney has now passed 49 serves without being aced. The junior libero had her longest stretch at 105 earlier this season, which was snapped at Air Force. Also, Casey Bauer has passed 25 straight without being aced.
The Barnes Supremacy: Mekana Barnes already ranks seventh on the freshman total block record with 80 and is also sixth in block assists with 73. Her 1.18 blocks per game is second in school history and leads 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 151 and 10th on the freshman lists is Becky Sarauer with 169 from 2001.
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 1,423, passing BYU's Nina Puikkonen (1999-01). Rogers is three 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 619 kills. She needs 80 kills to take over second from Delavane Diaz of Air Force (2000-03) who tallied 698 and 108 to take over the record of 726 from Kim Turner of Utah (2000-03).
Brick Wall: Dre Downs has tallied 106 blocks already this season, which is already more than in any other season in her career. She has played in 68 games this season, for an average of 1.56 per game. As a freshman in 2002, Downs notched 94 blocks in 108 games (0.87 per game), while in 2003 she had 91 blocks in 111 games (0.82) and last year she had 86 blocks in 97 games (0.89).
League Leaders: Colorado State continues to lead the Mountain West in kills (16.01), assists (14.81) and is tied for first in blocks (3.46) per game. The Rams also rank second in hitting percentage (.232). Individually, Dre Downs leads the conference with 1.56 blocks per game and is second in hitting percentage at .348. In conference matches only, the Rams are second in blocks (3.49). Downs leads the league with 1.79 blocks per game, while Ashley Fornstrom is third in assists per game (11.86).
The Last Time Out: Casey Bauer notched a career-high 26 kills last time the Rams played UNLV. That total is the most kills recorded in a Mountain West Conference match this season and the most recorded by a Ram against all opponents this year.
Diggin On It: The Rams 56 digs at Wyoming on Friday is the most in a conference three-game match this season.
Starting Hot: During the four match road trip, the Rams were victorious in all four game ones. The Rams hit .315 during the three first games, but dropped to a .188 hitting percentage for the second game, where the team went 3-1 over the weekend. For the year, the Rams are hitting .257 in game one, compared to just .205 and in conference matches, the Rams are hitting at a .251 clip in game one and just .162 for the second game.
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.
Building Blocks: In conference play, Dre Downs is averaging 1.79 blocks per game to lead the league, while Ashley Fornstrom ranks 9th with 1.11 per game and Mekana Barnes is 10th with 1.09 per contest. As a team, the Rams are second in the conference with 3.49 blocks per game against conference foes and 3.46 per game against all opponents to tie Utah for the lead league.
Leaps and Bounds: Tess Rogers and Dre Downs have already climbed up the career charts quite a bit during 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 3,386 and has moved up five spots on the career kills chart to seventh with 1,423. Downs has moved up nine spots on the block assists chart to seventh with 334, up six spots to 12th in blocks per game with 0.98, up seven in total blocks to 10th with 377 and up three spots in career kills to 16th with 1,054.
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 1,054 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.
Previously 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.
News & Notes:
* Mekana Barnes is 20 blocks shy of her 100th career block and needs 49 kills for 200.
* Dre Downs needs 46 kills for her 1,100th.
* Downs is 23 blocks shy of her 400th career block.
* With 13 more kills, Downs will rank 15th in school history in career kills. With 17 she will take over 14th.
* Downs needs five block assists to move into sixth on the career charts.
* Ashley Fornstrom is 38 blocks shy of her 100th.
* Fornstrom needs 182 assists to take over ninth on the career charts.
* Brittany Fornstrom's next dig will be her 50th at CSU.
* Tess Rogers needs four more digs for 350 in her career.
* Rogers needs 128 kills to move into sixth on the career charts.
* Freshman defensive specialist Jaime Strauss is 19 digs shy of her 100th.
* Colorado State is a perfect 15-0 against Air Force, 14-0 against UNLV and 14-0 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.
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:
UNLV: The Rebels are currently in third place in the MWC standings with a 7-3 record and are 11-11 overall.
Sophomore middle blocker Lauren Miramontes leads the team with 3.38 kills per game, while sophomore outside hitter Brittani Lumsden is hitting a team-best .244. Freshman setter Melody Nua averages 11.46 assists per game and a tea-high 0.32 aces per game. Sophomore libero Jada Walker leads the team with 4.11 digs per game and Miramontes is averaging 0.87 blocks per game.
As a team, UNLV is hitting .213 on the year, with 14.94 kills, 13.58 assists, 1.69 aces, 14.93 digs and 2.08 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .234 with 14.73 kills, 13.38 assists, 1.05 aces, 14.58 digs and 2.62 blocks per game.
Allison Keeley is in her second year at UNLV with a record of 26-23 and is 15-9 in Mountain West play.
San Diego State: The Aztecs are 6-4 in Mountain West play and 14-9 overall.
Junior outside hitter Melanie Greene leads the team with 3.15 kills per game, while middle blocker Lindsey Noll is third in the league in hitting percentage at .346. Sophomore setter Kristen Castillo leads with 6.62 assists and freshman outside hitter Alicia Waller leads with 0.52 aces per game. Sophomore libero Aime Cordeiro is averaging 4.87 digs per game, while Noll leads the team with 1.35 blocks per game.
The Aztecs are hitting .222 this season with 15.14 kills, 13.39 assists, 1.69 aces, 14.44 digs and 2.74 blocks per game. The opposition is hitting .216 with 14.43 kills, 13.19 assists, 1.09 aces, 13.56 digs and 2.81 blocks per game.
Mark Warner is in his 11th year with a record of 175-156 and is 14-5 against Colorado State.