Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Heads To MWC Tournament In Vegas
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 22, 2005
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Lucky Two Seed: 2005 marks the third time in seven years the Rams have been the second seed at the Mountain West Conference Tournament. In both 1999 and 2004 the Rams won the tournament as the two seed. CSU also won the championship in 2003 as the one seed, becoming the first top seed to win the championship.
Lobo Matchup: For the third straight season, the Rams will face New Mexico in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Colorado State has won the previous two meetings, in three games last season and four games in 2003. If the Rams reach the semifinals, they will face the winner of the #3 Utah vs #6 Wyoming match. The Rams and Utes have met in the last two championship matches and CSU is 3-1 against Utah in the Mountain West Tournament. CSU and Wyoming have never met in the Mountain West Tournament.
Back-to-Back: Junior libero Katherine Whitney tallied 17 digs in each of the last two matches, which ties for the 15th most in a three-game match in school history. During the Rams six-match winning streak, Whitney has averaged 4.64 digs per game.
Block Party: Colorado State has three players averaging at least one block per game this season. Senior middle blocker Dre Downs leads the way with 1.52 per game (143 blocks), while freshman middle blocker Mekana Barnes averages 1.21 blocks per game (111 blocks) and freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom averages 1.00 blocks per game (91 blocks).
Kat Like Reflexes: Katherine Whitney has 385 digs this season, which ties for fourth on the CSU single-season charts and she is on pace to become the first Ram to average over four digs per game for a season as she currently averages 4.05 per game. Whitney also tallied her 500th dig at CSU against New Mexico and now has 533. Her career average of 3.21 digs per game would break the school record of 3.03 held by Lindsey Kerr (2001-03) and is only the second time in school history a player has averaged over three digs per game for her career. She is also just 53 digs shy of the school record of 437 by Carrie Appleman in 1992.
Downs Straight Down: Against Air Force in the regular season finale for the Rams, Dre Downs hit .722 (14-1-18), tying for the 14th best hitting percentage in a match in school history. Earlier in the week against TCU, Downs hit .667 (14-2-18). Downs is now hitting .348 on the year, which ranks second in the Mountain West and ranks 13th on the single-season charts at CSU. She is also hitting .295 for her career to ranks 12th in school history.
Another Milestone: Against New Mexico on Friday evening, senior outside hitter Tess Rogers recorded her 1,500th career kills and now has 1,516 to rank seventh in school history and second in Mountain West Conference history. She is now just 35 kills shy of moving into sixth on the CSU career list (1,550, Catie Vagneur, 1995-98).
Ace In The Hole: Colorado State has had at least one service ace in all 26 matches this season and in the last 33 matches. The Rams have been serving well of late, notching at least seven aces in the last seven matches, averaging 2.00 aces per game over that stretch. In conference play, the Rams averaged 1.61 aces per game, compared to 1.38 in non-conference matches.
Hilbert's Teams In November: Colorado State has a 6-1 record this year during the month of November and the Rams are 64-14 (.821) since Hilbert took over the reigns in 1997. By percentage, he is the winningest coach in school history in the 11th month, and he is three wins shy of taking over the most wins in November from Rich Feller, who tallied 66 wins (66-58) in his 14 years with the Rams.
And The Record Goes To: Tess Rogers recorded 11 kills against New Mexico, becoming the school record holder for double figure kill matches. The senior has tallied 10 or more kills in 91 matches (of 119) in her career, breaking the previous record of 90 held by Jill Johnson (1987-90).
The Kat's Out of the Bag: Katherine Whitney has tallied 20 or more digs in four matches this season. The school record for most in one year is five by Carrie Appleman in 1992. Appleman also holds the career record with nine matches of at least 20 digs. Whitney's four matches over 20 is tied for the fourth most in school history.
One More: Colorado State needs one more win this season to mark the 11th straight season the team has totaled at least 20 wins in a season. The Rams have won 20 or more matches in each of Tom Hilbert's eight previous years at Colorado State. It will also mark the 17th year in program history to surpass the 20 win barrier.
Downs Heating Up: Senior middle blocker Dre Downs has tallied double figure kills in nine of the last 10 matches and has hit .400 or better in 12 matches this season, including .667 against TCU and .722 against Air Force this past week.
The Winning Ways: Over the six-match winning streak for the Rams, four players have averaged at least one block per game as the team has averaged 3.55 blocks per game. Mekana Barnes leads the way with 1.38 per game, while Dre Downs has averaged 1.36 blocks per game, Ashley Fornstrom is at 1.23 per game and sophomore right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki has averaged 1.09 blocks per game. Mokelki has also been second on the team with a .346 hitting percentage, while Downs has hit .389 over the six matches.
Shoring Up The Serving: In September, Colorado State had 51 aces (1.19 per game) and 131 errors for a ratio of 1 ace to 2.57 errors. In October, the Rams had 36 aces (1.38 per game) and 70 errors for a ratio of 1:1.94. In November, the Rams have 58 aces (2.23 per game) and just 67 errors for a ratio of 1:1.16.
Tough Defense: Colorado State has held six opponents to below .100 hitting for the match, including the last two opponents, as New Mexico hit a season-low .010 and then the very next evening, the Rams held Air Force to a negative .032 hitting percentage. For the week, the opposition hit just .053. The Rams hit .332 and averaged 2.56 aces and 3.61 blocks, as ell as 14.89 digs over the three matches.
You Can Only Hope To Contain: Four different Rams have led the team in kills during a match this season (Tess Rogers 9, senior outside hitter Casey Bauer 8, Dre Downs 8, Mekana Barnes 2), 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.
Television Plans: CSTV will televise seven of the eight matches at the Mountain West Conference Championship this weekend. Bill Doleman will be calling the play-by-play, while Amy Gant will be doing the color commentary. In the Fort Collins area, CSTV is available on Comcast Sports Tier, channel 412.
Passing Fancy: Katherine Whitney has received a team-high 583 serves this season with just 15 errors, for a 97.4 reception percentage. Casey Bauer is next on the squad with 580 receptions. She has passed 93.4 percent of her receptions accurately.
Setting Them Up: Ashley Fornstrom ranks ninth on the CSU career assists chart and now has the third most by a freshman in school history with 1,044. Her 11.47 assists per game also ranks third on the freshman charts at CSU, seventh on the CSU charts and 20th on the single-season charts. She also is seventh on the freshman blocks chart with 91, ninth on the freshman charts with 2.01 digs per game and tied for fifth with 0.27 aces per game and 1.00 blocks 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 3.57, Casey Bauer 3.47, Dre Downs 3.19, Tonya Mokelki 2.38 and Mekana Barnes 2.32). The Rams are also the only team in the conference to have three players average over three kills per game. Wyoming has five hitters averaging over 2.00 kills per game, but just four over 2.25 kills per contest.
Wide Receivers: Colorado State is allowing opponents to serve just 1.01 aces per game (96 aces, 95 games). That total is the fifth lowest in school history. Last season's team holds the record with just 0.87 aces per game (90a-103g), while in 2000 the team allowed 0.94 (121a-129g), 2001 was 0.95 (105a-111g) and in 1999 the team allowed 1.00 aces per game (117a-117g).
Ms. Rogers Neighborhood: Tess Rogers moved into second in Mountain West history with 1,516 kills and needs 105 for the conference record (1,620, Kim Turner, Utah, 2000-03). In conference only matches, Rogers finished her career second in career kills with 712. She passed Delavane Diaz of Air Force, who tallied 698 from 2000-03. Turner holds the record with 726 kills.
League Leaders: Colorado State leads the Mountain West in assists (14.78) and is second in hitting percentage (.232), blocks (3.44) per game, opponent hitting percentage (.156) and kills per game (16.07). Individually, Dre Downs leads the conference with 1.52 blocks per game and is second in hitting percentage at .348.
Nationally Ranked: Colorado State ranks 20th in the national attendance figures released this week. The Rams average 1,543 fans each match in Moby Arena, and have posted a 12-2 record at home this season. Hawai'i leads the way in attendance, averaging 7,302 fans.
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 68 solo stops. She has climbed six spots in the career attacks chart to fifth with 3,652 and has moved up five spots on the career kills chart to seventh with 1,516. Downs has moved up 12 spots on the block assists chart to fourth with 370, up five spots to 13th in blocks per game with 1.01, up nine in total blocks to 8th with 414 and up six spots in career kills to 13th with 1,156.
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 1,156 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.
Thrice Honored: Colorado State has had three student-athletes earn player of the week honors this season. Katherine Whitney was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Nov. 14. Whitney averaged 5.22 digs and 0.78 aces per game, while totaling eight assists. 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 recorded the 200th kill of her career against New Mexico and now has 213.
* Barnes needs 42 kills to move into eighth on the freshman kills chart. She also needs 10 blocks to move into third.
* Casey Bauer is just six kills shy of her 700th and needs just 21 more digs for 400.
* Dre Downs became the third Ram this season to record 300 kills, as Tess Rogers has 336, Bauer 326 and Downs 300.
* Downs needs 44 kills for her 1,200th
* Downs is hitting .348 this season which ranks 13th on the single-season charts.
* Downs has 136 blocks assists to tie for sixth on the single-season charts. With one more shy will tie for fourth, two more she will tie for third and four more move into third on her own.
* Downs' 143 total blocks ranks 15th on the single-season charts. With two more she will tie for 13th and needs just eight more to break into the top 10.
* Downs needs seven blocks to move into seventh and eight to move into sixth for her career.
* Ashley Fornstrom is 17 digs shy of 200 and nine blocks shy of 100.
* Fornstrom's 1,044 assists rank 20th on the single season charts and she needs 36 to move into 19th. Her 11.47 assists per game also ranks 20th.
* Fornstrom is just 249 assists shy of second on the freshman assists list. She also needs four digs to move into ninth and four blocks to move into sixth.
* Tonya Mokelki is 27 kills shy of 300 and 11 blocks shy of 100.
* Tess Rogers needs 11 blocks for 250.
* Rogers is 35 kills shy of sixth on the career charts and is three blocks shy of 20th.
* Katherine Whitney's 0.37 aces per game ties for 17th on the single-season charts at CSU.
* Whitney needs 53 digs to break the school single-season record of 437 by Carrie Appleman in 1992.
Sisters, Sisters: Ashley and Brittany Fornstrom are one of 25 sets of sisters playing volleyball at the same Division I school, and the Rams are one of 23 teams to sport at least one pair of sisters. Colorado State and Utah (Amy Tingey and Emillie Toone) are the two schools in the Mountain West Conference with sisters on the same team and Utah is the only opponent of the Rams this season to have siblings on the squad together.
Nationally Ranked: In the NCAA statistics through Nov. 13, Colorado State ranks 11th in blocks per game (3.42) and Dre Downs ranks 13th in blocks per game with 1.58.
Scouting The Opposition:
New Mexico: Colorado State will face the Lobos for the second straight week in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament. The teams split the regular season meetings with each team winning on its home court. The Lobos are the seventh-seed in the MWC Tournament and are 14-13 overall, dropping three of their last four matches.
Senior outside hitter Nicole Ryan leads the team with 3.15 kills per game, while senior middle blocker Chelsea Sondrup leads with a .279 hitting percentage and 1.41 blocks per game. Freshman libero Gayle Tripp leads the team with 2.63 digs per game and sophomore middle blocker Samie Weber leads with 0.31 aces a contest. Freshman setter Tanna Taylor has taken over the setting duties the last two matches and is averaging 4.90 assists per game.
Head Coach Kelley McKee is in her fourth year at New Mexico with a record of 37-76 and sports a career record of 180-180 in her 13th season as a head coach.
Tournament History: Colorado State has won the last two Mountain West Conference Championship titles and has played in the title match each year of the league's existence except 2002. The Rams are 13-3 in Mountain West Conference Tournament action with two losses coming to BYU and one to Utah.
Mountain West Tournament History Air Force 3-0 BYU 2-2 New Mexico 2-0 San Diego State 2-0 UNLV 1-0 Utah 3-1
Closing In: Tess Rogers holds the single tournament record for kills with 61 in the 2003 tournament. She has 115 kills in Mountain West Tournament play and is just 45 shy of tying the record of Kim Turner of 160 (2000-03).
Tournament Records: Colorado State holds the tournament record for kills (223, 1999), attacks (522, 1999), hitting percentage (.355, 2003), digs (205, 1999), largest margin of victory (19 points vs UNLV semifinals 2001) and longest match (2:35 vs Utah finals 2001). The only tournament record the Rams do not hold is blocks, which BYU holds from 2000.
