Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Air Force
11/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2006
Match Notes vs Air Force
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Last Time Out: Colorado State swept the Wyoming Cowgirls in the second installment of the Border War, 30-28, 30-18, 30-25. Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss led a quartet of Rams in double figures in kills with 12. Sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes and freshman middle blocker Tessa Nelson both added 11 kills each and senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney chipped in 10. Freshman libero Katelin Batten tallied a career-high 20 digs, while Whitney, sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom and junior right side hitter Tonya Mokelki each tallied 10.
Made To Be Broken: Katelin Batten tallied a career-high 20 digs in the win over Wyoming, giving her 272 for the season, which is a new freshman single season record at CSU, breaking the old record of 270 by Nalani Yamashita from 1992.
Going Streaking: Colorado State has now won 10 matches in a row, the longest winning streak since the Rams won 12 straight at the beginning of the 2004 season. The nine-match winning streak in conference play is also the Rams' third-longest in Mountain West history (14, 2003; 10, 2001).
Oh So Close: Colorado State has 98 victories in Mountain West Conference play since the league started in 1999. With two more wins, the Rams will become the first team in MWC history to reach 100 victories. Utah is second on the list with 88 wins, while BYU has 84.
Digging It Up: The Rams tallied 65 digs against Wyoming, which ties for the 13th most in a three-game match in school history. Prior to this season, the Rams had not had 60 or more digs in a three-game match since 1999 and this year's team has accomplished the feat twice (vs UNLV).
All Knotted Up: With the win over Wyoming and Utah's defeat of BYU, the Rams and Cougars are now tied for second in the league standings. The two teams meet head-to-head in the final weekend of regular season play, in Moby Arena on Nov. 17.
Three Over One: This season's team currently has three players averaging over one block per game. The last time a Ram team ended the year with three players over 1.00 was in 1994 when Melanie Williams (1.30), Janie Penfield (1.13) and Wendy Herb (1.04) managed the feat. This year Tessa Nelson (1.23), Ashley Fornstrom (1.03) and Mekana Barnes (1.02) are all blocking more than one ball a game.
Setters=Aces: Ashley Fornstrom has kept the streak of setters serving well alive. Fornstrom has 22 aces on the year, marking the 11th straight season and the 15th time in the last 16 years the starting setter has tallied 20 or more aces on the year. Fornstrom's 0.85 kills per game also is the sixth highest offensive output by a setter in school history, and no setter has ever averaged 1.00 kills per game or more for the Rams.
Count On It: Tonya Mokelki has tallied at least five kills in all 21 matches this season and in 35 of the last 36 matches for the Rams. The lone exception was against Washington last season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Barnes & Blocks: Mekana Barnes, after not tallying a solo block in the first 15 matches of the season, has had one in each of the last three matches. She has increased her blocks per game average to 1.02 over the past several matches.
Seeing Double: Both Ashley Fornstrom and Katherine Whitney recorded double-doubles against Wyoming on Thursday. Whitney now leads the team with nine on the year, while Fornstrom has seven this season. Jaime Strauss also has eight this season, while Tonya Mokelki has three.
1-2-3 Punch: The trio of sophomores in #1 Jaime Strauss, #2 Ashley Fornstrom and #3 Mekana Barnes are accounting for 41.5 percent of the team's kills, 90.4 of the team's assists, 48.5 of aces, 35.2 of digs and 44.9 percent of the team's blocks this season.
Going The Distance: During the 10-match winning streak, Colorado State has not played a five-game match, winning seven matches in three-game sweeps and the other three in four-game contests. CSU is 1-2 in five-game matches this year.
Chalk It Up To Defense: Over the last five matches, Colorado State have averaged 17.65 digs per game, well above the season average of 15.03 (the team's average was 14.26 prior to the last five). The Rams blocking has also improved of late, as the team is averaging 3.70 over the 10-match winning streak, bettering the average of 3.01 for the season (2.48 prior to the streak starting).
Little Of This, Little Of That: Ashley Fornstrom, in addition to averaging 12.59 assists per game this season, has tallied at least three digs, one kill and one block in all 21 matches. Fornstrom is second on the team in blocks, with 1.03 per game and is fourth in the team in digs with 2.31 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 3-5 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.
A Step Further: 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).
Great Digs: Katelin Batten notched a career-high 20 digs against Wyoming, keeping alive her school record streak of 19 consecutive matches of 10 or more digs. Batten averages 3.63 digs per game, which is the CSU freshman dig average record and currently ranks her eighth in the Mountain West Conference.
Milestones: Jaime Strauss notched her 300th career dig against Wyoming and now has 307.
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 10 match winning streak, the Rams are averaging 17.03 kills, 16.52 digs and 3.70 blocks per game, as well as hitting .274 compared to .096 for the opposition.
Win 250: Head Coach Tom Hilbert won his 250th match at Colorado State against Denver. Hilbert is now 256-60 (.810) in his 10th season with the Rams. He is now just 44 wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history as Rich Feller currently holds the record with 299 victories.
Start At The Beginning: Colorado State is 12-1 this season when winning game one and 1-5 when losing the first stanza. The Rams are also a perfect 12-0 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 18 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 11 blocks for her 200th.
• Katelin Batten is 28 digs shy of 300. With 41 digs she will tie for 19th on the single-season charts at CSU.
• Amanda Fahnestock is four kills and four digs shy of 100 at CSU in both.
• Ashley Fornstrom is 22 blocks shy of 200.
• Ashley Fornstrom needs 61 assists to take over seventh on the CSU career charts (2222, Anissia Belikoff, 1988-91).
• Tonya Mokelki needs five digs for 200.
• Tessa Nelson is nine blocks shy of 100.
• Jaime Strauss is 18 kills shy of 300.
• Katherine Whitney needs 13 digs for 800 at Colorado State.
• Whitney needs four digs for 16th on the CSU career charts (790, Kristen Walton, 1989-93).
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:
Air Force: The Falcons are 0-11 in Mountain West Conference play and 3-19 on the season. They have also dropped 25 straight matches to the Rams.
Middle blocker Jocelyn Booker leads the team with a .178 hitting percentage and 0.79 blocks per game, while Katie Batchelder leads with 2.57 kills per game. Jaclyn Fleming leads the club with 3.68 digs per game and Rebecca Gerton leads with 27 aces. Recently, freshman Hannah Sorber has taken over the setting duties and is getting 2.40 assists per game.
Air Force is averaging 10.01 kills, 8.94 assists, 1.67 aces, 12.60 digs and 1.74 blocks per game, while hitting at an .062 clip. The opposition is averaging 14.59 kills, 13.04 assists, 2.26 aces, 15.90 digs and 2.17 blocks and hitting .257.
In the first meeting between the two teams, the Rams swept 30-14, 30-20, 30-16. Amanda Fahnestock played on the left side, leading the match with 12 kills and a .522 (12-0-23) hitting percentage. Katelin Batten led the match with 14 digs and both Mekana Barnes and Fahnestock had three blocks, while Ashley Fornstrom tallied three aces. Air Force was led by Batchelder with eight kills, while both Kim Kallabis and Ellen Bina tallied eight digs and the Falcons had one block in the match.
Colorado State is 25-1 all-time against Air Force and has won the last 25 straight, dating back to the first meeting, a 1982 victory for the Falcons.
