Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
TCU
Volleyball Moves To Semifinals
11/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 23, 2006
The Colorado State volleyball team overcame a sluggish start to defeat TCU in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship in four games, 33-31, 30-32, 30-28, 30-16. The Rams improve to 18-9 on the year, while the Horned Frogs end their season with a 17-15 record.
Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss tied her career-high with 24 kills on the morning and hit .354, adding 12 digs and four blocks. Senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney added 11 kills and 13 digs, while junior right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki chipped in 10 kills and freshman libero Katelin Batten had 10 digs. Senior defensive specialist Lindsey Hillegass added two aces, and junior right side hitter Amanda Fahnestock came off the bench to tally nine kills, hit .412 and record three blocks.
"Jaime was extremely solid throughout the entire match," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "She gave us the stability we needed to stay in the match and fight. (Sophomore setter) Ashley (Fornstrom) made some great changes and showed her maturity today. After coming back in from the injury, she increased her tempo to the outside hitters. She used to slow her tempo in stressful situations and she didn't do that today, which is a credit to her. Amanda was extremely clutch for us today. She played great, getting big kills and blocking balls in critical situations."
TCU was led by outside hitter LeMeita Smith with 15 kills, while senior middle blocker Anna Vaughn added 10. Senior libero Calli Corley led the match with 15 digs, while both Katelyn Blackwood and Loren Barry chipped in 10 digs and Smith had a match-high eight blocks.
It looked like both teams were nervous at the start of game one, with four errors resulting in the first four points and a 2-2 tie. The teams traded points, with the score being tied at 3, 4 and 5 before the Rams scored two straight to lead 7-5. Each team then scored two straight and two CSU errors tied the score at 9-9. The score was again tied at 10 and 11 when the Rams called a timeout, and after the break, the teams continued to trade points, tying the score at every point from 12 to 18. TCU then scored three straight and five of six to take the 23-19 lead. The Rams scored two straight, including an ace by Barnes to close within two, 23-21 but the Frogs again scored two straight to lead 25-21. After a CSU timeout, the Rams scored a pair with a block by Mokelki and Nelson and a Lindsey Hillegass ace, forcing TCU into a timeout. Trailing 26-24, Fornstrom went down at the net and Hillegass came back in to set. The Rams scored the next two points to tie the score at 26-26 and TCU rallied off three straight to have game point at 29-26. Fahnestock and Barnes tallied back-to-back kills, forcing TCU into its final timeout. Barnes and Fahnestock combined for a block to knot the score for the 18th time. After a missed serve by CSU, Fahnestock had a solo block of Smith to tie the score at 30-30 and Fornstrom reentered the lineup. After an Edwards kill for TCU, the Frogs had a hitting error for the 31-31 tie and the Rams scored two straight off kills by Barnes and Strauss for the 33-31 victory. Strauss led the team with six kills and five digs.
Tied at 1-1 in game two, TCU scored three straight to lead 4-1, before the Rams scored three of the next four with two Barnes kills to close within one, 5-4. After two straight Frog points, Barnes had a kill and combined with Mokelki for a block to make the score 7-6. Trailing 9-7, CSU scored four of five points to take the 11-10 lead. After a TCU kill, the Rams again scored three straight to increase the lead to 14-11 when TCU called a timeout. Two points by the Frogs made it a one-point game, when Fahnestock tallied another kill to lead 15-13. TCU got a kill, then the Rams notched three straight kills to take a four-point lead at 18-14, but the Horned Frogs scored three in a row to pull within one 18-17. Strauss then notched three consecutive kills for the 21-17 lead and TCU called its final timeout. The Horned Frogs scored a pair, then the Rams answered with three in a row for a five-point lead at 24-19. The Frogs answered with three of their own when Fornstrom recorded a kill for the 25-22 lead. TCU tied up the score when Fornstrom won a joust at the net, then Smith got another kill for TCU to tie at 26-26. The Horned Frogs committed an error for the 27-26 CSU lead and Hilbert called for a timeout because the team was out of substitutions and Hillegass was in the front row. After a Frog error, TCU scored two straight, including an ace serve off a rotation violation to tie the score at 28-28. Fahnestock tallied another kill to make the score 29-28, but Kirk and Allen recorded back-to back kill for the 30-29 lead. Barnes notched another kill for the Rams, but TCU scored two straight to win 32-30 and tie the match at one game each. Strauss again led the Rams with seven kills, while Barnes chipped in five.
TCU tallied four blocks and CSU had three errors for the early 8-3 lead for the Frogs and Hilbert called a timeout. After two more TCU points, the Rams scored four straight, including an ace by Whitney for a 10-7 score. Vaughn notched a kill, then CSU scored three of the next four to close within two, 12-10, when TCU scored three of four to increase its lead back to four, 15-11. After the timeout for television, Whitney recorded a kill, then TCU scored four of five to lead, 19-13. Fahnestock tallied a kill, then combined with Strauss for a block and after a TCU kills, Strauss tallied her 15th kill and combined with Nelson for a block to close to 20-17. After a TCU timeout, the Rams stayed focused, blocking two straight balls with Strauss in on both, Kirk then had a TCU kill and Strauss tied the score with a pair of kills, 21-21. After trading points, CSU scored two including a solo block by Whitney for the 24-22 lead. The teams traded kills to 27-25 when TCU called its final timeout and scored two out of the break to knot the score, but the Rams scored three of the last four, with a block by Fornstrom and Nelson on game point to win 30-28. Game three marked the second game in the last three matches the Rams battled back from at least a seven-point deficit to win a game. Strauss tallied six kills, while Whitney had four, and the Rams had five blocks.
Hillegass opened game four with an ace serve, then the teams traded points to knot the score at 2-2. Strauss then notched back-to-back kills for her 20th and 21st of the match and three straight TCU errors gave the Rams the 7-2 lead. After a timeout, Hampton recorded consecutive kills for the Frogs, CSU scored two straight with an ace by Fornstrom and a CSU error made the score 9-5. CSU then took off, scoring six of the next seven to take the 15-6 lead and never looked back. After trading points to 19-11, CSU scored four of five to increase the lead to 23-12 and went on to win 30-16. Mokelki led the Rams in game four with six kills, while Strauss added another five.
Colorado State advances to the semifinals for the eighth straight season and will face the winner of the #2 BYU - #7 San Diego State match at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon.
