Volleyball Faces Three In Final Week Of Regular Season

Nov. 14, 2005

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Conference Finale: Colorado State will host the final three matches of the Mountain West Conference season this week. The Rams face TCU on Tuesday before hosting New Mexico on Friday and Air Force on Saturday for Senior Night.

Honored: Junior libero Katherine Whitney was named the Mountain West Player of the Week, earning her first award and the team's third this season. Whitney served a career-high six aces, while tallying 20 digs and receiving 47 of CSU's 112 receptions with just one error. Against Utah, she collected a career-high 27 digs and had just one reception error in 39 attempts -- a serve that hit the net and fell over and she dove but missed the ball. On the week, Whitney averaged 5.22 digs and 0.78 aces per game, while totaling eight assists. Of her 87 serve receptions, 31 were first swing kills for the Rams (35.6 percent). She also becomes only the third defensive player to earn the award in Mountain West Conference history.

BYU Recap: Colorado State defeated #16 BYU in five games at the Marriott Center 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. 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.

Utah Recap: Behind 21 kills by Casey Bauer and nine blocks by Dre Downs, Colorado State swept the Utah road trip for the fourth straight season, defeating Utah in four games on Crimson Court, 30-24, 30-28, 32-34, 30-21. Bauer notched 21 kills and hit .295 (21-8-44) and also had a huge solo block on match point to secure the Rams victory. Katherine Whitney led the match with a career-high 27 digs. All five hitters were in double figures in kills with Mekana Barnes and Downs chipping in 14 kills, while Tess Rogers tallied 13 and sophomore right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki added 11. Barnes also had five blocks and three aces on the evening and Amanda Fahnestock came off the bench to serve five aces, three in the first game.

The Seniors Coalition: In each of the last three matches, one of the three seniors has recorded at least 20 kills. Against San Diego State, Dre Downs had 22 kills. In the five game victory at BYU, Tess Rogers notched a career-high 24 kills and then at Utah, Casey Bauer tallied 21 kills.

Aces High: At BYU, Katherine Whitney recorded six aces, the most for a Rams this season and tied her career-high from her time at Seton Hall. Then at Utah, Amanda Fahnestock served a career-high five aces, including three straight in game one. The Rams are now averaging 1.42 aces per game.

Home Court Spoilers: The three teams currently ahead of the Rams in the Mountain West standings, BYU, Utah and UNLV all have one home loss in league action -- and all are at the hands of the Rams. UNLV hosts the Cougars and Utes this weekend, while the other two have concluded their home seasons.

One More: With her next block, Mekana Barnes will become just the fifth freshman in Colorado State history to tally 100 blocks in a season. Barnes has 99 blocks, with 89 block assists, which ranks her fourth on the freshman charts.

Downs Goes Up: Dre Downs moved up another spot on the career kills chart over the weekend. Downs now has 1,123 kills to rank 13th in school history. She passed Judy Rexroth with her last kill, as Rexroth notched 1,122 kills from 1994-97.

The Kat's Out of the Bag: Katherine Whitney became the first Ram since 2002 to record 20 or more digs in consecutive matches. At BYU, she dug 20 balls, then recorded a career-high 27 digs at Utah. The last time a player had 20+ digs in back-to-back matches was Lindsey Kerr who had 23 at San Diego on Sept. 28 and 26 vs. San Diego State on Oct. 4, 2002. Whitney's 27 digs ties for the fourth most by a Ram in a match and is the second-highest total for a four-game match in school history.

Down(s) The Block: Dre Downs has 127 block assists this season, which ranks ninth on the school's single-season chart and her 134 total blocks is now tied for 20th. Downs is 65 block assists shy of the school record of 191 by Angela Knopf in 2000 and with 10 more Downs will move into the top five. With 81 more total blocks, Downs will break the school record of 214 by Knopf and she is 16 shy of cracking into the top 10 in total blocks.

Now Appearing: With her 47 digs this weekend, Katherine Whitney leaped into 11th on the school's single-season dig record. She now has 339 digs on the year and is just 98 shy of the school record of 437 by Carrie Appleman in 1992. Whitney's 3.94 digs per game would be a new school record, bettering the previous record of 3.92 held by Lindsey Kerr in 2002.

You Can Only Hope To Contain: Four different Rams have led the team in kills during a match this season, while five have reached double figure kills at least once this season and the three seniors have, at least twice each, tallied 20 or more kills in a match this year.

Doubled Up: Tess Rogers has now notched double figures in kills in 90 matches in her career, which ties the school record of 90 held by Jill Johnson (1987-90). Rogers has also been in double figure kills in 19 of the matches this season and in the last four.

Block Steady: Dre Downs recorded nine blocks against Utah, marking the 14th time this season and the 27th 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 ninth on the CSU career assists chart and now has the third most by a freshman in school history with 939. Her 11.45 assists per game also ranks third on the freshman charts at CSU. She also is eighth on the freshman blocks chart with 78, and ninth on the freshman charts with 2.01 digs per game and 10th with 0.23 aces per game.

Balanced Attack: CSU is the only team in the Mountain West to have all five hitters average at least 2.25 kills per game (Tess Rogers 3.61, Casey Bauer 3.60, Dre Downs 3.14, Tonya Mokelki 2.38 and Mekana Barnes 2.27). The Rams are averaging 16.09 kills per game this season to lead the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming is the only other team in the conference with all five hitters over 2.00 per game.

Home Sweet Home: Colorado State is currently 9-2 in the friendly confines of Moby Arena and have enjoyed great success at home, posting an all-time record of 244-67 (.785). With Tom Hilbert at the helm, the Rams are an amazing 127-16 (.888) in Moby Arena.

Ms. Rogers Neighborhood: Tess Rogers moved into second in Mountain West history with 1,487 kills and needs 134 for the conference record (1,620, Kim Turner, Utah, 2000-03). In conference only matches, Rogers is the only active player ranked in the top 10, now ranking third with 646 kills. She needs 16 kills to take over second from Delavane Diaz (Air Force) who tallied 698 and 44 to take over the record of 726 by Turner.

League Leaders: Colorado State leads the Mountain West in kills (16.09) and assists (14.88) and is second in blocks (3.42) per game. Individually, Dre Downs leads the conference with 1.58 blocks per game and is third in hitting percentage at .332. In conference matches only, the Rams are second in blocks (3.41) and Downs leads the league with 1.75 blocks per game.

Leaps and Bounds: Tess Rogers and Dre Downs have climbed up the career charts quite a bit this year. Rogers has moved up six spots on the solo blocks chart from 14th to eighth with 67 solo stops. She has climbed six spots in the career attacks chart to fifth with 3,578 and has moved up five spots on the career kills chart to seventh with 1,487. Downs has moved up 12 spots on the block assists chart to fourth with 361, up six spots to 12th in blocks per game with 1.01, up nine in total blocks to 8th with 405 and up six spots in career kills to 13th with 1,123.

How Grand: The second point of the first game against Texas Tech was Dre Downs' 1,000th career kill. She becomes the 17th player in school history to pass the one grand mark and is now 13th on the career charts with 1,123 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: Ashley Fornstrom earned Mountain West Player of the Week on Oct. 31 after a split with TCU and Wyoming. 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. 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 needs nine kills for the 200th of her career and her next block will be her 100th.
* Barnes is six blocks shy of moving into fourth on the freshman total blocks chart.
* Casey Bauer is 22 kills shy of her 700th.
* Dre Downs recorded her 400th career block against Utah and now has 405.
* With eight more block assists, Downs will move into seventh on the single-season charts. With four more total blocks, she will rank 18th on that chart.
* Downs is 16 total blocks shy of moving into seventh and 17 blocks shy of moving into sixth on the career charts.
* Ashley Fornstrom is 61 assists shy of her 1,000th.
* Tonya Mokelki is 48 kills shy of her 300th.
* Tess Rogers needs just 13 kills for the 1,500th of her career. Rogers is also 16 blocks shy of her 250th.
* The next dig for freshman Jaime Strauss will be her 100th.
* Katherine Whitney needs 13 digs for her 500th at Colorado State and with 14 will have the 850th of her career.
* Whitney is four digs shy of 10th, seven digs shy of ninth, 12 shy of eighth and 14 shy of seventh on the single-season digs list.

Nationally Ranked: In the NCAA statistics through Oct. 30, Colorado State ranks 7th in blocks per game (3.46) and Dre Downs ranks 15th in blocks per game with 1.56.

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.

Scouting The Opposition: TCU: The Horned Frogs are 15-15 on the year and have dropped their last six matches after beating the Rams in Fort Worth.
Senior middle blocker Anna Vaughn is out indefinitely with an injury, and she led the squad in kills and blocks per game and hitting percentage before going out. Freshman middle blocker LeMeita Smith leads the team with 2.29 kills per game, while senior Erin Estep leads the squad with a .236 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Nirelle Hampton is averaging 9.91 assists per game and 0.44 aces per game, while sophomore outside hitter/libero is getting 4.38 digs per game and Estep is leading the team with 0.77 blocks per game.
The Frogs are hitting .183 on the year with 13.60 kills, 12.41 assists, 2.23 aces, 14.12 digs and 2.16 blocks per game, while opponents are hitting .189 with 13.29 kills, 11.63 assists, 1.71 aces, 13.74 digs and 2.50 blocks per game.
In conference action, Smith leads the club with 2.04 kills per game, while Estep is hitting .217 and Hampton is averaging 9.35 assists per game. Whitfield leads in digs with 4.38 per contest and in aces at 0.58 per game, while Smith leads the team with 0.93 blocks per game.
TCU is hitting .135 in league play, with 12.63 kills, 11.65 assists, 2.04 aces, 14.10 digs and 1.87 blocks per game while the opposition is hitting .237 with 14.41 kills, 12.53 assists, 1.92 aces, 14.24 digs and 2.78 blocks per game.
Prentice Lewis is in her fourth season at the helm with a career record of 68-58 and is 3-11 in Mountain West Conference play.

New Mexico: The Lobos are 14-11 overall and have gone 2-3 since the previous meeting with the Rams on Oct. 22.
Senior outside hitter Nicole Ryan leads the team with 3.22 kills per game, while senior middle blocker Chelsea Sondrup is hitting .282 to lead the squad. Freshman setter Sarah Kwasigroch leads with 10.88 assists per game, while sophomore middle blocker Samie Weber leads the team with 0.31 aces per game. Freshman libero Gayle Tripp leads with 2.51 digs per game and Sondrup leads with 1.36 blocks per game.
The Lobos are hitting .204 on the year with 12.89 kills, 11.76 assists, 1.94 aces, 11.49 digs and 2.71 blocks per game while opponents are hitting .189 with 14.26 kills, 12.86 assists, 1.84 aces, 12.76 digs and 2.13 blocks per game.
In league play, Ryan is averaging 3.07 kills per game, while Sondrup is hitting .291. Kwasigroch leads with 10.41 assists and Tripp leads with 0.33 aces and 2.80 digs per game, while Sondrup also leads in blocks with 1.31 per game.
New Mexico is hitting .194 with 12.20 kills, 11.17 assists, 1.80 aces, 10.87 digs and 2.71 blocks per game, while the opposition is hitting .220 with 14.31 kills, 13.07 assists, 1.93 aces, 12.31 digs and 2.31 blocks per game.
Kelley McKee is in her fourth year at New Mexico with a record of 37-74 and sports a career record of 180-178 in her 13th season as a head coach.

Air Force: The Falcons are 5-25 on the year and won their first conference match in 26 attempts when they defeated TCU on Nov. 6 before falling to New Mexico last weekend.
Senior middle blocker Kristin Hamlett leads the team with 3.34 kills and 0.99 blocks per game, while middle blocker Brooke Akers is hitting a team-best .228. Junior setter Carly Siefken leads with 9.32 assists, while sophomore defensive specialist Kim Kallabis leads with 0.29 aces per game. Siefken also leads the club with 2.23 digs per game.
Air Force is hitting .121 on the year, with 12.09 kills, 10.81 assists, 1.53 aces, 12.32 digs and 1.94 blocks per game, while Falcon opponents are hitting .222 with 14.69 kills, 13.24 assists, 2.16 aces, 14.13 digs and 2.40 blocks per game.
In conference action, where the Falcons are 1-13, Akers leads the way with a .239 hitting efficiency, 3.14 kills and 0.90 blocks per game. Siefken averages 8.48 assists and 2.18 digs per game and Kristina Stewart leads the team with 0.39 aces per game.
Air Force is hitting just .085 in league play with 10.90 kills, 9.88 assists, 1.38 aces, 11.16 digs and 1.86 blocks per game. Their opposition is hitting .244 with 15.00 kills, 13.38 assists, 2.72 aces, 13.50 digs and 2.46 blocks per game.
Penny Lucas- White is in her 10th season with the Falcons and has a record of 74-205. She is also in her 15th season as a head coach with a career record of 169-285.

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