Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Starts Second Half Of Conference Play
10/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2006
TCU & New Mexico Notes
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Last Time Out: On Friday evening, the Rams swept UNLV to take over sole possession of third-place in the Mountain West Conference standings, then defeated San Diego State in four games to improve to 12-6 on the year and finish the first half of conference play with a 6-2 record. The Rams were extremely well balanced all weekend, with all five starting hitters recording double figures kills on Saturday and five players getting double figure digs against the Aztecs. The team hit .235 for the week and averaged 18.29 kills, 1.14 aces, 19.43 digs and 3.71 blocks per game.
On The Docket: Colorado State travels to TCU and New Mexico, teams the Rams swept earlier in the season in Moby Arena, however the two teams defeated CSU on their home courts last season. TCU is in fifth-place in the Mountain West, while the Lobos are in a three-way tie for sixth.
Great Digs: Freshman libero Katelin Batten notched a career-high 19 digs against San Diego State on Saturday, keeping alive her school record streak of 16 consecutive matches of 10 or more digs. Batten now has 225 digs on the year, needing just 46 more to become the freshman record holder. The current record of 270 is held by Nalani Yamashita from 1992. Batten's 33 digs over the weekend also increased her season average to 3.46 per game, which ranks ninth in the Mountain West.
Balance: Sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom did an exceptional job of distributing the ball over the weekend as the five hitting positions all tallied between 20 and 28 kills in the two matches. The Rams also averaged 18.29 kills per game, well above their season average of 15.35 per game.
Double Trouble: Senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney and Ashley Fornstrom both recorded double-doubles in each match over the weekend. Whitney tallied 11 kills and 13 digs against UNLV and 17 kills and 11 digs against San Diego State, while Fornstrom had 40 assists and 13 digs against the Rebels and 67 assists and 13 digs against the Aztecs. Whitney has eight double-doubles this season, while Fornstrom has six, and four in the last five matches.
Put The Ball Away: Colorado State notched a season-high 81 kills against San Diego State. It is the third highest total in the Mountain West and the second most in a four-game match this season. The 81 kills also ties for 11th in school history for a four-game match.
Top Dogs: Freshman middle blocker Tessa Nelson ranks fourth in the Mountain West in blocks per game in conference matches only, and is the top ranked freshman. She is also third among freshman in hitting percentage and 10th overall. Katelin Batten is also the top ranked freshman in digs per game, ranking seventh overall with 3.64 per game.
Specialization: Senior defensive specialist Lindsey Hillegass notched a career-high 11 digs against San Diego State on Saturday with eight of them coming in the second game. She also tallied seven against UNLV, averaging 2.57 digs per game over the homestand.
Responding To The Call: Junior Amanda Fahnestock played in just 49 games last season for the Rams, while she has already played in 53 games this year and have more than four times the amount of kills and is better in almost every statistical category.
GP K-E-A % K/G Aces A/G Digs D/G S-A-T B/G 2005 49 17-4-45 .289 0.35 7 0.14 47 0.96 1-13-14 0.29 2006 53 75-27-141 .281 1.42 9 0.17 48 0.91 3-34-37 0.70
Now Appearing: Several performances over the weekend now appear in the CSU single match record books:
• Katherine Whitney's 44 attacks vs UNLV ties for 17th in a three-game match.
• Ashley Fornstrom's 67 assists vs SDSU ties for 15th in a four-game match.
• Tessa Nelson's eight block assists vs UNLV ties for 11th in a three-game match and her nine total blocks also ties for 11th.
• The team's 81 kills vs SDSU ties for 11th in three-games.
• The 147 attacks against UNLV ties for 17th in a three-game match and the 193 vs SDSU ties for 19th.
• The 63 team digs vs UNLV ties for 16th in a three-game match.
Milestones: Ashley Fornstrom recorded her 2,000th assist against San Diego State and now has 2,020, while Katherine Whitney dug up her 1,100th career dig with her final one against the Aztecs.
That Explains It: In the first 11 matches of the season, where the Rams posted a 5-6 record, the team was averaging 14.60 kills per game with 13.86 digs and 2.48 blocks per game. In the current seven match winning streak, the Rams are averaging 16.74 kills, 16.57 digs and 3.87 blocks per game, as well as hitting .271 compared to .212.
Win 250: Head Coach Tom Hilbert won his 250th match at Colorado State against Denver. Hilbert is now 253-60 (.808) in his 10th season with the Rams. He is now just 47 wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history as Rich Feller currently holds the record with 299 victories.
Dominating Defense: Colorado State has held six of its last seven opponents to below a .150 hitting percentage and the seventh hit just .152. The Rams are hitting .271 over that stretch, while holding the opposition to .077. Eight times this season, CSU has held an opponent to lower than .100 hitting efficiency, while 11 times the opponents have hit below .125 and are hitting .147 on the year, which ranks second in the Mountain West.
Start At The Beginning: Colorado State is 10-1 this season when winning game one and 0-5 when losing the first stanza. The Rams are also a perfect 10-0 when winning the first two games of the match. The lone loss for the Rams after winning game one came at the hands of BYU in Provo. CSU has won 17 straight matches when winning the first two games, dating back to last season at TCU on Oct. 25, where the Rams won the opening two frames before dropping the next three.
A Shirt Of A Different Color: Freshman Jonelle Wallace will redshirt the 2006 season. Wallace, a native of Denver, will sit out this season and have four years of eligibility remaining.
Triple Threat: Ashley Fornstrom recorded the first triple double this season in the Mountain West Conference and the first at Colorado State since Angela Knopf in 2001. Her triple double against Wyoming is only the 14th in school history and she tallied 53 assists, a career-high tying 14 digs and a career-high 11 blocks. For her efforts, she was named the Mountain West Co-Player of the week.
Hall of Honor: Tom Hilbert will be inducted into the Colorado State Hall of Honor, announced the CSU Former Athletes Association. Hilbert will be honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet Nov. 3. He will be honored along with five former student-athletes who achieved national prominence in their respective sports during induction ceremonies, including former volleyball standout Angela Knopf (1998-2001).
Offense Getting Defensive: No setter in school history has ever ended the season averaging a block per game or more. Ashley Fornstrom currently is averaging 1.06 blocks per game for second on the team and it is the highest average by a setter in CSU history. Last season, she ended the year with 0.97 blocks per game and her 1.01 career per game average is by far the best-ever by a setter. Allison Peckham (1998-2001) holds the career blocks per game average by a setter at 0.73 (286b-393g).
Tuesday Afternoon Club: Join Head Coach Tom Hilbert and at least one player every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., at the Hilton. Learn the inside scoop on the previous week, the upcoming matches and obscure statistics and strategies.
By The Numbers:
• Junior right side hitter Tonya Mokelki is 15 kills shy of 500 for her career.
• Sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes needs 15 kills for her 400th.
• Amanda Fahnestock is eight kills and five digs shy of 100 at CSU in both.
• Ashley Fornstrom needs 203 assists to take over seventh on the CSU career charts (2222, Anissia Belikoff, 1988-91).
• Katherine Whitney needs 10 digs to move into 19th on the career list and is 17 shy of 18th (18. 767, Rainie Rogers, 1994-97; 19. 760, Melissa McNally, 1986-89).
• Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss is 14 digs shy of 300.
• Barnes needs six digs for the 100th of her career and 24 blocks for her 200th.
• Tessa Nelson is 23 blocks shy of 100.
Over The Airwaves: The majority of Colorado State's matches this season can be heard on Yahoo.com. Cole Weinman will be doing the play-by-play, while Lance Moorman will be handling the color commentary. Select matches will also be aired on 90.5 FM, KCSU. Neither match this weekend will be broadcast.
Tough Schedule: Of the 10 non-conference opponents on the 2006 schedule, six were in the NCAA Tournament last season. American, California, Florida Atlantic, Missouri State, Pepperdine and Texas A&M, like Colorado State, all advanced to the tournament a year ago. The Rams face more NCAA Tournament teams than any other team in the Mountain West Conference (Utah 5, BYU 4, San Diego State 3, UNLV 2, Wyoming 2, New Mexico 1 and TCU 1).
Scouting The Opposition:
TCU: The Horned Frogs are 16-6 overall and 4-4 in Mountain West Conference play and have won their last two matches in three-game sweeps over New Mexico and Texas-Pan American.
Senior middle blocker Anna Vaughn leads the team with 3.63 kills per game and a .352 hitting percentage. Sophomore Nirelle Hampton leads the way with 10.83 assists and 0.43 aces per contest, while senior libero Calli Corley is averaging a team-best 4.55 digs and freshman middle blocker Kourtney Edwards leads with 1.06 blocks per game. Five Frogs have 20 ore more aces on the year as the team averages a league-best 2.26 aces per game.
In the first meeting, a three-game sweep for the Rams, Jaime Strauss led the Rams with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Amanda Fahnestock chipped in 11 kills and hit .588 and Tonya Mokelki added 10 kills and a team-high three blocks. Katelin Batten led the match with 12 digs and Ashley Fornstrom had four aces. TCU was led by Lauren Otto and LeMeita Smith with eight kills each, while Emily Allen had 11 digs and Vaughn tallied three blocks. Vaughn and Corley had the only two aces for TCU.
New Mexico: The Lobos are 6-14 on the year and 2-6 in conference action and have dropped five straight matches and nine of their last 11.
Sophomore outside hitter Jeanne Fairchild leads with 2.95 kills per game, while senior right side hitter Kelly Therkelsen is hitting a team-best .230. Sophomore setter Sarah Kwasigroch averages 10.32 assists per game and six Lobos have 10 ore more aces on the year. Sophomore libero Gayle Tripp leads with 4.14 digs, while freshman middle blocker Joelle Ingram leads with 1.07 blocks per game.
On Sept. 22, The Rams swept the Lobos, with Jaime Strauss notching 14 kills and 10 digs, while Katherine Whitney had 11 kills and Katelin Batten led the match with 12 digs. Both Amanda Fahnestock and Tessa Nelson had five blocks each for the Rams. Anna Lehne led the Lobos with seven kills, while Tripp had nine digs, Allison Suiter led the match with nine blocks and Jennifer Heasty had two of the team's four aces.