Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
BYU
Volleyball Wins Thriller At #16 BYU
11/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2005
The Colorado State volleyball team (15-7, 7-4) defeated #16 BYU (20-2, 11-2) in five games at the Marriott Center tonight in front of 3,507 fans to hand the Cougars their first home loss of the season and just their second of the year. The Rams won 30-28, 30-23, 27-30, 28-30, 17-15.
Senior outside hitter Tess Rogers tallied a career-high 24 kills to led the match, while senior middle blocker Dre Downs chipped in 17 kills and sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes added 14 kills. Junior libero Katherine Whitney led the match with 20 digs and a season-high for both her and the rest of the team, six aces. Senior outside hitter Casey Bauer notched 11 digs and junior defensive specialist Amber Piel added 10 in the win. Barnes also led the team with six blocks.
"This match was full of competitive moments," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "We made big plays at the end and we didn't allow big point runs in the entire match. We had some great performances tonight and I'm so proud of Tonya (Mokelki), she had some signature moments."
BYU was led by sophomore outside hitters Chelsea Goodman and Erica Lott with 19 kills each, while freshman middle blocker Rachel Dyer added 15 kills and hit a match-high .524. Goodman also led the Cougars with 19 digs, while sophomore libero Lindsey Evans added 17 and junior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock led the match with 10 blocks.
"Katherine (Whitney) -- this was the perfect situation for her and she made some nice plays," said Hilbert. "Her serving was excellent and her dig on Dyer at the end of game five was huge."
The Rams won game one 30-28 and there were 12 ties and five lead changes. The Rams hit .349, while BYU hit .382 and the Rams had the only two blocks of the first game. Downs had six kills, while Mokelki and Bauer chipped in four each, Rogers and Barnes had three each and freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom added two.
The second game was a little easier for the Rams as they won 30-23. Whitney had two of her six aces and served a nine-point run. She began serving with the teams tied at 9-9 and when she finished the Rams were ahead 17-10. The Cougars fought back to close within one at 19-18, but the Rams used a balanced attack to fight them off and win 30-23. The second stanza saw six ties and four lead changes. Rogers led with six kills, while Barnes added five and Bauer had three.
BYU came out more focused in games three and four, winning both 30-27 and 30-28, respectively. There were seven ties in game three and three lead changes, while game four saw nine ties and two lead changes. Whitney again had two aces in game three, while Fornstrom had one. Downs led the team with five kills, while Barnes and Rogers both added four in the third game. Rogers exploded for eight kills in game four, while Downs added five. BYU focused its block, notching seven in game three and four in game four to help lead to victory.
In the fifth game, Whitney started the scoring with her sixth ace, then Fornstrom added a kill to give the Rams the 2-0 lead. Hartsock recorded a BYU kill, then senior setter Lauren Evans was called for a double-hit violation for the 3-1 CSU lead. The teams traded points, until the Cougars went on a three-point run for the 5-4 advantage, when Evans was again called for a ball handling error to knot the score at 5-5. BYU scored the next three off two kills and a block for the 8-5 lead, but the Rams stayed focused and tied the score at 8-8 off a huge block by Downs and Fornstrom. BYU scored the next two points, but then Downs and Fornstrom combined for back-to-back blocks to knot the score at 10-10. It was again tied at 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 before Mokelki recorded consecutive kills for the 17-15 victory.
Colorado State plays its final road match of the Mountain West Conference season tomorrow evening at the University of Utah, which defeated Wyoming earlier this evening in four games. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
