Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Wyoming
Volleyball Blocks Way To Victory
10/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2006
A strong blocking performance by the Colorado State volleyball team gave them a four-game victory over the Wyoming Cowgirls this afternoon, 30-27, 27-30, 30-15, 30-22. With the win the Rams improve to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in Mountain West play, while the Cowgirls fall to 8-6 on the year and 2-2 in league play.
Sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom recorded the first triple-double at Colorado State since 2001, tallying 53 assists, 14 digs and a career-high 11 blocks. Her 11 blocks is also the most in school history by a setter, breaking the previous record of 10 by Cindy Cox in 1988. Senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney notched a match-high 17 kills and had 12 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss had 15 kills and 14 digs, with eight of her kills coming in the first game. Junior rightside hitter Tonya Mokelki also had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs and freshman libero continued her streak of double figure digs, notching 11. Junior middle blocker Amanda Fahnestock and freshman middle blocker Tessa Nelson both notched career-highs with nine blocks each.
Wyoming was led by senior middle blocker Andrea Seele with 14 kills and seven blocks, while junior outside hitter Rachel Smith had 13 kills, sophomore libero Samantha Eley led the match with 17 digs and sophomore setter Tasha Weishahn had two of the team's three aces and notched 10 digs.
Seele opened the match with a kill, then Strauss and Whitney answered with consecutive kills for the Rams for the 2-1 lead. Wyoming knotted the score at 2-2 and it was tied at 3,4, 5, and 6 before Wyoming scored two straight to lead 8-6. Mokelki and Strauss tied the score with a kill each, then the Cowgirls scored four of the next five points to take a 12-9 lead and Colorado State called a timeout. Wyoming scored two out of the break for the 14-9 lead, when the Rams scored three straight, including a block by Fornstrom and Fahnestock to close within two, 14-12. Two errors gave Wyoming a four-point advantage, then the teams traded points and with two Cowgirl errors and a kill by Mokelki, the Rams trailed by just one, 17-16. After a Wyoming timeout, Strauss and Fahnestock combined for a block to tie the score at 17-17. The score was tied for the ninth and 10th times at 18 and 19 when Wyoming again scored two straight to lead 21-20. The teams traded points until 25-23 when the Rams scored three straight with a block by Strauss and Nelson and an ace by Mekana Barnes to take a 26-25 lead and a Wyoming timeout. Smith notched a kill for the Cowgirls, then Strauss tallied one, Hellbaum had one and the Rams scored the final three points of the game with kills by Strauss and Nelson and a block by Nelson and Fornstrom for the 30-27 victory. Strauss led all players with eight kills in the game and hit .357 (8-3-14).
The second game started very similar to the first with the teams trading points and nine ties to make the score 10-10. Wyoming then tallied back-to-back kills and Weishahn notched an ace to give the Cowgirls the 13-10 lead and force CSU into a timeout. The Rams scored two of the next three to pull within one, 14-13, then after a ball-handling error was called on Mokelki, Strauss and Nelson recorded back-to-back kills to tie the score at 15-15. Three straight Cowgirl points gave them the 18-15 advantage and CSU called its final timeout. Wyoming scored three of the four next points out of the break to extend its lead to five, 21-16 when Fornstrom had a solo block and then teamed with Nelson for one to pull within three, 21-18.The teams traded points to 25-22 when Wyoming scored three straight to take its biggest lead of the game at 28-22. The Rams scored five of the next six, including a solo block by Strauss and two by Fornstrom and Nelson to close within two, 29-27, but Seele closed out the game for the Cowgirls. Whitney led the Rams with five kills, while the Rams had five blocks in the second stanza.
The Rams refocused after the 10-minute break and came out firing in game three, scoring eight of the first 11 points, including three blocks to take the early 8-3 lead. After a Scott kill for Wyoming, the Rams scored five of the next six, with two blocks to lead 13-5. Wyoming scored four of the next five to pull within five, 14-9, but the Rams answered with four of their next five to lead 18-10 and force the Cowgirls into their second timeout of the game. Scott got a kill out of the break, but the Rams continued their dominant ways, scoring six of the next seven and going on to win 30-15. The Rams notched nine blocks in the game and Mokelki led the way with four kills.
Wyoming scored the first point of game four, then the Rams rattled off the next three to take the 3-1 lead. Scott tallied another kill for Wyoming, then and ace serve by the Cowgirls tied the score at 3-3. Barnes tallied the next two kills, then the Rams committed three straight errors to give Wyoming the 6-5 lead. Barnes and Mokelki combined for the next two blocks to give the lead back to CSU, 7-6. Trailing 11-10, CSU scored five straight, including two more bocks with Fahnestock in on both for a 15-11 Rams lead. Colorado State went on to win by eight, 30-22, notching seven blocks in the final game.
Colorado State plays Denver in its final non-conference matchup on Wednesday in Moby Arena, then returns to conference play on Friday, playing at Air Force at 6:00 p.m.
