Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Faces Tough Test
11/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2005
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Tough Road Swing: CSU embarks on undoubtedly the hardest road trip in the Mountain West. Colorado State plays at BYU on Friday at 7:30 (note time change) and then at Utah on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Rams are the only team in Mountain West history to sweep the road trip, doing so the past three years, but both BYU and Utah are ahead of the Rams in this year's standings.
San Diego State Recap: Colorado State returned to its winning ways with a four-game victory over San Diego State, 30-32, 30-26, 30-25, 30-20. Senior middle blocker Dre Downs recorded a match-high 22 kills and hit .400 with seven blocks. Senior outside hitter Casey Bauer added 13 kills and had her ninth double-double of the season with 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Tess Rogers tallied 12 kills and sophomore right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki chipped in 10 kills and hit .429 to go along with a career-high six blocks. Junior defensive specialist Amber Piel, playing in her first extensive action of the season, led the team with 16 digs, while freshman middle blocker Mekana Barnes had a career-high four aces on the night.
UNLV Recap: In a Mountain West Conference battle, Colorado State fell to UNLV in four games, 30-23, 26-30, 28-30, 25-30. Colorado State was led by its three seniors as Dre Downs tallied a team-high 16 kills and a match-high seven blocks, Tess Rogers notched 15 kills and five blocks and Casey Bauer added 11 kills and seven digs. Freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom tallied a career-high four aces and tied her career-high with 14 digs, while junior libero Katherine Whitney tied her season-high with 22 digs. Sophomore transfer Amanda Fahnestock played both as a left-side hitter and middle blocker for the Rams, notching six kills in 14 swings for a .429 hitting efficiency.
A-Piel-ing Defense: Amber Piel entered the San Diego State match late in game one and went on to lead the Rams with a career-high 16 digs. Piel has now played in seven games this year and three matches. She has also passed all 14 serves without being aced.
Downs Goes Up: Dre Downs moved past two former teammates on the career kills chart over the weekend. Against UNLV, Downs moved into 15th on the list, passing Becky Sarauer's (2001-04) 1,066 kills. Then on Saturday, Downs passed Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon's (2001-04) 1,070 kills. Downs now has 1,092 kills to rank 14th and is 31 kills away from 13th (1,122, Judy Rexroth, 1994-97).
Rams See Red: Colorado State was the last team to beat Utah, defeating the Utes on October 9 in five games in Moby Arena. Utah has won six straight since falling to the Rams and is now receiving votes in the AVCA poll. CSU was also the last conference team to beat the Utes on Crimson Court as Utah has won six consecutive at home against league foes.
The Magic of Moby: Saturday against San Diego State marked the 100th victory in Moby Arena for the Rams since the formation of the Mountain West Conference in 1999. The Rams are an amazing 100-13 (.885) at home and 43-4 (.915) against league opponents in Moby during that stretch.
Passing Fancy: Opponents definitely seem to pick on the Rams' outside hitters when it comes to serving, but both have responded to the pressure. Casey Bauer has now passed 60 straight serves without being aced, while Tess Rogers has passed 50 in a row.
Stepping Up: Over the last five matches, Dre Downs has led the team with 3.80 kills per game and 1.40 blocks per game, as well as hitting at a team-best clip of .349.
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 on one occasion, tallied 20 or more kills in a match this year.
Doubled Up: Tess Rogers has now notched double figures in kills in 88 matches in her career, which is third on the all-time list and just two away from tying the school record of 90 held by Jill Johnson (1987-90). Second on the list with 89 double figure kill matches is Angie Knox (1984-87).
Block Steady: Dre Downs recorded seven blocks in each match over the weekend, marking the 13th time this season and the 26th 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.
Tops Among Newcomers: Ashley Fornstrom ranks second in the Mountain West this week against league opponents and is the top ranked freshman, averaging 12.00 assists per game. The Mountain West has seven schools (of nine) that utilize a freshman setter, with only BYU and San Diego State using an upperclassmen, and one of the Aztecs two setters is a freshman.
Dominant Duo: Dre Downs and Mekana Barnes, the two starting middle blockers for the Rams, have tallied 208 blocks between the two of them, or 42 percent of the team's blocks. Both average over one block per game, with Downs leading the Mountain West at 1.58 per game and Barnes at 1.17 per game.
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 with 815. Her 11.16 assists per game also ranks third on the freshman charts at CSU. She also is ninth on the freshman blocks chart with 69, and eighth on the freshman charts with 2.10 digs per game and 10th with 0.23 aces per game. Fornstrom needs just 81 more assists to move into ninth on the career charts (895, Tara Holland, 1990-91).
Balanced Attack: CSU is the only team in the Mountain West to have all five hitters average at least 2.15 kills per game (Casey Bauer 3.64, Tess Rogers 3.55, Dre Downs 3.11, Tonya Mokelki 2.40 and Mekana Barnes 2.17). The Rams are averaging 16.01 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.
The Barnes Supremacy: Mekana Barnes already ranks sixth on the freshman total block record with 88 and is also fourth in block assists with 81. Her 1.17 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 163 and 10th on the freshman lists is Becky Sarauer with 169 from 2001.
Conference Career Leaders: Tess Rogers now ranks third in Mountain West history with 1,450 kills and needs just 19 to move into second, passing Delavane Diaz of Air Force (2000-03) who tallied 1,468 and needs 171 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 53 kills to take over second from Diaz who tallied 698 and 81 to take over the record of 726 by Turner.
Brick Wall: Dre Downs has tallied 120 blocks already this season, which is already more than in any other season in her career. Downs has 114 block assists on the year, which ranks her in a tie for 16th on the CSU single-season charts and has needs just 14 more total blocks to break into the top 20 in that category. Her 1.58 blocks per game ranks fourth in school history and is the most since 2000 when Angela Knopf averaged 1.66 per contest.
League Leaders: Colorado State leads the Mountain West in kills (16.01) and assists (14.79) and is second in blocks (3.42) per game. Individually, Dre Downs leads the conference with 1.58 blocks per game and is second in hitting percentage at .339. In conference matches only, the Rams are second in blocks (3.41) and Downs leads the league with 1.79 blocks per game.
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 66 solo stops. She has climbed six spots in the career attacks chart to fifth with 3,480 and has moved up five spots on the career kills chart to seventh with 1,450. Downs has moved up 12 spots on the block assists chart to fourth with 348, up six spots to 12th in blocks per game with 1.00, up seven in total blocks to 10th with 391 and up five spots in career kills to 14th with 1,092.
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 14th on the career charts with 1,092 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 12 blocks for 100 and is 37 kills shy of her 200th.
* With 20 kills, Casey Bauer will notch her 300th of this season and she needs 52 for the 700th of her career.
* Dre Downs is eight kills shy of 1,100 and she needs 31 kills to move into 13th on the career charts.
* Downs needs five blocks to move into 8th on the career charts and nine blocks for her 400th.
* Tess Rogers is 50 kills shy of 1,500. With 101 kills, she will move into 6th on the career charts.
* Freshman defensive specialist Jaime Strauss needs 12 digs for the 100th of her career.
* Katherine Whitney needs 60 digs for her 500th at Colorado State.
* Ashley Fornstrom is 81 assists shy of ninth on the career lists.
* Barnes and A. Fornstrom's four aces this weekend tied for 11th in a four-game match.
* Whitney's 22 digs ties for 12th in a four-game match and ties the season high at CSU.
* The 29 blocks assists vs San Diego State is 13th in school history in a four-game match.
* Downs is hitting .339 this season which ranks 16th on the single-season charts (min. 200 kills).
* Whitney is tied for 15th with 15 double figure dig matches this season.
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.
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:
BYU: The Cougars lost their only match of the season on Friday at Utah. BYU is now 20-1 on the season and 11-1 in Mountain West Conference play.
Sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Goodman leads the team with 4.18 kills per game, while fellow sophomore Erica Lott is right behind her with 3.97 kills per game. The pair rank one-two in the Mountain West, respectively. Junior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock leads the Mountain West with a .459 hitting percentage and she leads the Cougars with 1.17 blocks per game. Senior setter Lauren Evans leads the team and Mountain West with 13.04 assists per game and is first on the team with 0.41 aces a contest. Sophomore libero Lindsey Evans leads the club with 3.46 digs per game.
BYU is hitting .275 on the year, with 15.95 kills, 14.47 assists, 1.45 aces, 13.86 digs and 2.63 blocks per game while opponents are hitting .148 with 12.35 kills, 11.49 assists, 1.05 aces, 12.28 digs and 2.01 blocks per game.
In conference matches, Goodman leads the team with 4.28 kills per game, while Hartsock is hitting a league-best .458 and 1.39 blocks per game. Lauren Evans averages 12.85 assists and 0.45 aces per game, while Lindsey Evans leads the team with 3.83 digs per game.
The Cougars are hitting .263 in conference play with 15.84 kills, 14.37 assists, 1.33 aces, 13.79 digs and 3.01 blocks per game. The opposition is hitting just .129 with 12.21 kills, 11.40 assists, 0.95 aces, 11.91 digs and 2.36 blocks per game.
Utah: The Utes have won six straight since losing in five to the Rams earlier this season and are 17-6 on the year and 9-3 in league action.
Freshman middle blocker Lori Baird leads the team with a .303 hitting percentage, while senior outside hitter Shelly Sommerfeldt gets a team-best 3.39 kills per game. Senior libero Danielle Leichliter leads with 0.28 aces and 3.22 digs per game, while sophomore middle blocker Emillie Toone averages a team-best 1.46 blocks per game.
Utah is hitting .231 on the season with 15.01 kills, 13.58 assists, 1.26 aces, 14.35 digs and 3.48 blocks per game, while opponents are hitting .140 with 13.45 kills, 12.36 assists, 1.25 aces, 14.90 digs and 2.26 blocks per game.
In league play, Baird is hitting .312 while freshman Airial Salvo leads the team with 3.48 kills per game. Leichliter averages 0.26 aces and 3.41 digs per game and Toone leads with 1.52 blocks per game.
The Utes are hitting .247 against the Mountain West with 15.22 kills, 13.74 assists, 1.15 aces, 13.72 digs and 3.75 blocks while opponents are hitting .119 with 12.83 kills, 11.72 assists, 1.39 aces, 13.87 digs and 2.37 blocks per game.