Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Prepares For Second Border War
10/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2006
Wyoming Notes
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Last Time Out: Colorado State added two to its winning streak with a four-game victory over TCU and a sweep at New Mexico. The Rams have now won nine straight matches and eight straight against Mountain West competition. Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss tied her career-high with 19 kills against TCU, while sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes hit .500, senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney led with 18 digs and freshman middle blocker Tessa Nelson had a match-high eight blocks. Against the Lobos, Whitney led with 15 kills, while Barnes had three aces, freshman libero Katelin Batten led the team with 15 digs and both Strauss and Barnes had four blocks.
Max Out Moby: Colorado State will try to break the single-match attendance record in Moby Arena on Thursday against Wyoming. The Rams' record of 6,260 comes from 1988 against the BYU Cougars. The largest crowd this season was the home opener against Texas A&M of 3,159.
Going Streaking: Colorado State has now won nine matches in a row, the longest winning streak since the Rams won 12 straight at the beginning of the 2004 season.
Career Nights: Both junior right side hitter Tonya Mokelki and Mekana Barnes notched career milestones against New Mexico on Saturday. Mokelki tallied her 500th career kill, while Barnes hit her 400th.
Count On It: Tonya Mokelki has tallied at least five kills in all 20 matches this season and in 34 of the last 35 matches for the Rams. The lone exception was against Washington last season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Moving On Up: Katherine Whitney took over the 17th spot on the Colorado State career digs chart over the weekend. She now has 777 for her career with the Rams and needs just 14 to take over 16th (790, Kristen Walton, 1989-93).
Chart Hopping: With her 27 digs in the two matches over the weekend, Katelin Batten is now tied for fourth on the CSU single-season freshman digs list with 252. She needs just 19 more digs to break the freshman record of 270 set by Nalani Yamashita in 1992.
Little Of This, Little Of That: Sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom, in addition to averaging 12.49 assists per game this season, has tallied at least three digs, one kill and one block in all 20 matches. Fornstrom is second on the team in blocks, with 1.06 per game and is fourth in the team in digs with 2.26 per game.
A Season First: For the first time this season, Colorado State rallied to win a match after losing the first game. The Rams had lost five straight matches this year, until TCU, when dropping game one. The last time the Rams lost game one and won the match was against Colorado in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
Relying On The Outside: Colorado State is 12-1 this season when one of the starting outside hitters hits .300 or better for the match and 2-5 when neither hits the .300 plateau. Jaime Strauss has hit .300 of better in eight matches, while Katherine Whitney has done so five times and junior Amanda Fahnestock has done so once.
Going The Distance: The Rams are 3-0 in extra points games in conference play this year, winning all three by 31-29 scores (New Mexico twice, UNLV).
Comeback Kids: In eight different games during conference play this season, the Rams have battled back from at least a three-point deficit to win a game. The largest comeback this year in league play was seven-points, 14-7 against New Mexico in game two on Sept. 22 as the Rams went on to win 31-29. On Saturday, also against the Lobos, the Rams trailed by six, 8-2, and came back to win 31-29, also in the second game. The largest comeback of the year came in game two against Pepperdine as the Rams trailed by eight, 12-4 and went on to win 30-23.
Nelson Rankings: Tessa Nelson moved up to eighth on the freshman blocks chart with 10 over the weekend, bringing her season total to 87. With eight more, she will pass Dre Downs (94, 2002) for seventh. Nelson also needs just 24 kills to move into 10th on that freshman list (182, Lynn Jameyson, 1986).
Great Digs: Katelin Batten notched double figure digs in both matches over the weekend, keeping alive her school record streak of 18 consecutive matches of 10 or more digs. Batten averages 3.50 digs per game, which is the freshman dig average record and currently ranks her ninth in the Mountain West Conference.
Top Dogs: 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 3.69 per game.
Responding To The Call: Amanda Fahnestock played in just 49 games last season for the Rams, while she has already played in 57 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 57 78-29-176 .278 1.37 9 0.16 48 0.84 3-36-39 0.68
Milestones: Tonya Mokelki tallied her 500th kill against New Mexico and now has 505, while Mekana Barnes got her 400th kill against the Lobos and now has 404.
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 nine match winning streak, the Rams are averaging 16.80 kills, 16.00 digs and 3.70 blocks per game, as well as hitting .272 compared to .089 for the opposition.
Win 250: Head Coach Tom Hilbert won his 250th match at Colorado State against Denver. Hilbert is now 255-60 (.810) in his 10th season with the Rams. He is now just 45 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 eight of its last nine opponents to below a .150 hitting percentage and the seventh hit just .152. The Rams are hitting .272 over that stretch, while holding the opposition to .089. Eight times this season, CSU has held an opponent to lower than .100 hitting efficiency, while 12 times the opponents have hit below .125 and are hitting .145 on the year, which ranks second in the Mountain West.
Start At The Beginning: Colorado State is 11-1 this season when winning game one and 1-5 when losing the first stanza. The Rams are also a perfect 11-0 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).
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:
• Mekana Barnes is three digs shy of 100 for her career. She also needs 16 blocks for her 200th.
• Katelin Batten is 48 digs shy of 300.
• Amanda Fahnestock is five kills and five digs shy of 100 at CSU in both.
• Ashley Fornstrom is 23 blocks shy of 200.
• Ashley Fornstrom needs 106 assists to take over seventh on the CSU career charts (2222, Anissia Belikoff, 1988-91).
• Tonya Mokelki needs 15 digs for 200.
• Tessa Nelson is 13 blocks shy of 100.
• Jaime Strauss is two digs shy of 300.
• Strauss is also 30 kills shy of 300.
• Katherine Whitney needs 23 digs for 800 at Colorado State.
• Nelson is 24 kills shy of 10th on the freshman kills chart and she needs eight blocks to take over seventh.
• Batten is eight digs shy of third on the freshman list, 15 shy of second and 19 shy of the record.
• Whitney needs 14 digs for 16th on the CSU career charts.
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.
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:
Wyoming: The Cowgirls are 8-11 on the year and 2-6 in Mountain West Conference play and will have had eight days off since their last match when they play in Moby on Thursday.
Junior outside hitter Rachel Smith leads the team with 3.81 kills per game, while junior middle blocker Lauren Scott leads the team with a .241 hitting percentage and senior middle blocker Andrea Seele leads with 1.06 blocks per game. Freshman Micah Lines leads with 3.77 digs per game, while both setter Tasha Weishahn and outside hitter Annie Meyers have 22 aces on the year.
The Rams won the first meeting in four games, with Ashley Fornstrom recording a triple double with 53 assists, 14 digs and 11 blocks. Katherine Whitney led with 17 digs, while both Fornstrom and Jaime Strauss had 14 digs and Mekana Barnes had the only ace. Wyoming was led by Seele with 14 kills and seven blocks, while libero Samantha Eley tallied 17 digs and Weishahn had two of the team's three aces.
Colorado State has won 17 straight matches against the Cowgirls, dating back to 1998.