Volleyball Faces In-State Rival Denver on Wednesday

Oct. 2, 2006

Denver Match Notes
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Last Time Out: A strong blocking performance by Colorado State gave them a four-game victory over Wyoming, 30-27, 27-30, 30-15, 30-22. 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. 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 Katelin Batten 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.

Setters Share Honors: Ashley Fornstrom was named the co-Mountain West Player of the Week, along with Utah setter Sydney Anderson. Fornstrom recorded the first triple-double in the MWC this season and had a conference best 11 blocks for a conference match, but it was not enough for her to win the honors alone as Anderson tallied a career-high in assists and the Utes hit .315 against BYU.

Block Party: All six starters for Colorado State either tied or tallied a career-high in blocks against Wyoming, en route to 26.0 total team blocks, the fifth most blocks in school history and a new Mountain West Conference record. Ashley Fornstrom led the way with 11 blocks, while Amanda Fahnestock and Tessa Nelson each tallied nine, Tonya Mokelki and Jaime Strauss each had six and Katherine Whitney had four. The 46 block assists for the Rams also tied the school record for most in a match.

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 is only the 14th in school history and she tallied 53 assists, a career-high tying 14 digs and a career-high 11 blocks.

Outside Looking In: Colorado State is 7-1 this season when at least one of the two starting outside hitters (Jaime Strauss, Katherine Whitney) hit .300 or better for the match with at least 10 kills. The lone loss came at the hands of Texas A&M in the season opener. Last season, the Rams were 4-0 when one of the two outside hitters (Casey Bauer, Tess Rogers) hit .300 or better.

You Can Go Home: Playing in her home state for the first time in almost a year, Ashley Fornstrom made the most of it. She notched a career-high 11 blocks, which is the most by a Ram this season, is the second highest total in the Mountain West this year (behind the 12 by Utah's Emillie Toone -- the nation's leading blocker) and is a new CSU record for a setter, breaking the previous record of 10 by Cindy Cox in 1988.

Rally Rams: For the first time this season, five Rams recorded double figure digs in the same match. Against Wyoming, Jaime Strauss and Ashley Fornstrom led the way with 14 digs each, while both Tonya Mokelki and Katherine Whitney had 12 digs and Katelin Batten added 11.

Starting Strong: Jaime Strauss notched eight kills in game one at Wyoming and the last one gave her 200 kills for her career. Strauss now has 207 kills in 44 matches with the Rams.

Closing In: Head Coach Tom Hilbert's next win will be his 250th at Colorado State. In his 10th season, Hilbert sports a 249-60 (.806) record with the Rams.

The Ones You're Supposed To: Colorado State has won seven straight matches against non-ranked teams this season and tied the longest winning streak of the year with the victory over Wyoming on Sunday.

Made To Be Broken: The 26.0 total team blocks by Colorado State against Wyoming is a new Mountain West Conference record, breaking the old record of 24.5 held by BYU in both 2000 and 2004. It marks the first time since 1996 the Rams tallied more than 25 blocks in a match and ties for the fifth most in a match in school history.

1-2-3 Punch: The trio of sophomores, #1 Jaime Strauss, #2 Ashley Fornstrom and #3 Mekana Barnes are accounting for 46% of the team's kills, 91% of assists, 51% of aces, 37% of digs and 43% of the team's blocks in 2006.

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).

I'll Take Digs For 50: Katherine Whitney recorded 12 digs against Wyoming, marking the 50th time in her career and the 37th time at CSU she's tallied double figures in digs. Whitney has 1,060 digs for her career and has 711 as a Ram, needing just 34 more to appear on the school's career charts in that category.

Double Trouble: Jaime Strauss has now recorded four straight double-doubles for the Rams in kills and digs. The sophomore has seven this season and for her career. With double figures in digs and kills against Denver, Strauss will tie Melissa Courtney, Catie Vagneur, Jill Johnson and Diane Saba for second in school history with five straight double-doubles. The school record is eight, held by Carrie Appleman in 1992.

Enjoying In State: Colorado State is 75-20 all-time against teams from Colorado, including a 10-1 record against Wednesday's opponent Denver, and a 24-1 record against Air Force, which the Rams play on Friday.

A Short Time Away: Tessa Nelson needs just 71 more kills to appear on the Colorado State freshman list. She is also just three blocks shy of taking over 10th on that freshman list and currently ranks fifth in school history with 1.10 blocks per game.

It's All In The Hands: Ashley Fornstrom is the only player on the team to have more service aces than errors with 18 aces and 11 errors this season. The sophomore is serving at a .950 clip, as she has attempted 218 serves this year. For her career, Fornstrom has 49 aces and 51 errors in 704 attempts for a .928 accuracy.

Digging Doubles: Katelin Batten has been in double figures in digs in 12 straight matches. Her streak is tied for the second longest in school history and is just one match shy of tying the school record of 13 by Carrie Appleman in 1992. The freshman has only had one match this year where she has not been in double figure digs and that was the second match of the year against Morgan State, where she tallied eight.

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 1.04 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 0.99 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).

Super Primaries: For the first time since 1999 the Rams have three players averaging over 2.5 digs per game. Katelin Batten leads the way with 3.23 a game, while Jaime Strauss is averaging 2.75 per game and Katherine Whitney is averaging 2.54. The trio has also received 1109 of the opponent's 1159 serves this season for a .957 accuracy.

Whose Turn Is It?: All five starting hitters for Colorado State have led the team in kills in at least one match this season. Jaime Strauss has led the team a team-high five times, while Mekana Barnes has led the team three times, Tessa Nelson and Katherine Whitney have led twice, Tonya Mokelki has led once and Strauss and Whitney shared the honors once.

Batten Down The Hatches: Katelin Batten's 3.23 digs per game will be a new single season freshman record if she continues her pace. The current freshman record is 2.55 digs per game held by Angela Knopf in 1998. Batten is also on pace to break the single-season freshman record of 270 digs, held by Nalani Yamashita from 1992. Batten already has 168 digs 14 matches into the season.

By The Numbers:
 Mekana Barnes is two kills shy of her 350th career kill.
 Katelin Batten needs 32 digs for the 200th of her career.
 Batten is 19 digs shy of 10th on the freshman single-season dig list.
 Amanda Fahnestock is just 10 digs shy of her 100th at Colorado State.
 Fahnestock also needs five blocks for the 100th of her career.
 Ashley Fornstrom's next ace will be the 50th of her career.
 Fornstrom is also 154 assists shy of 2,000.
 Tonya Mokelki is 54 kills shy of 500.
 Tessa Nelson is three blocks shy of 10th on the freshman single-season block list.
 Jaime Strauss needs 31 digs for 300.
 Whitney is nine kills away from 600 in her career and 30 kills shy of 200 at CSU.
 With 34 digs, Whitney will move into 20th on the career charts at CSU.

Fantastic Fans: Colorado State ranks 15th in the nation in attendance this season. The Rams are averaging 1,581 per match, which is also second in the conference behind the 2,380 that BYU is averaging (7th overall). Hawai'i leads the way with 7,252 fans per match and there are 11 teams in the nation over 2,000 fans per game.

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.

A New Role: Katherine Whitney is one of the Rams' starting outside hitters in 2006. In 2005, Whitney spent the first five matches as the team's starting setter and the last 25 as the starting libero and in 2004, she played defensive specialist. As a freshman at Seton Hall in 2003, Whitney was a starting outside hitter, earning Big East Conference Rookie of the Year honors.

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).

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.

Scouting The Opposition:
Denver: The Pioneers are 9-6 on the season and the only common opponent this year is Wyoming, which Denver defeated in five games. The largest crowd Denver has seen in a match this season is 866 against UCLA, while the Rams have played nine times in crowds larger than that.
Senior outside hitter Lisa Hunter leads the team with 4.40 kills per game, while middle blocker Kim Muller is hitting a team-best .299. Five different players have more than 10 aces on the year and Kerry Porter leads the team with 1.04 blocks per game. Alyssa Hampton also leads the squad with 4.16 digs per game.
Sunday, Denver defeated Western Kentucky in four games after losing matches against Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee earlier in the week.
Colorado State is 10-1 all-time against Denver with the lone loss coming last season in Hamilton Gym. In two matches against the Pioneers, Tonya Mokelki has 16 kills (2.29 per game) and is hitting .273 (16-7-33). In last year's match, Ashley Fornstrom made her debut as the setter midway through the match, tallying 29 assists, and hasn't been off the court since.

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