Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Utah
Volleyball Wins MWC Title
11/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2006
The Colorado State volleyball team will advance to the NCAA Championship for the 12th consecutive season after upsetting #9 Utah in five games, 25-30, 19-30, 34-32, 30-20, 15-10. The Rams also win 20 matches for the 12th straight year, moving to 20-9, while the Utes fall to 27-3. The Rams trailed two games to zero and were down 20-11 in game three before battling back to win the match. Colorado State had been 0-4 on the year when losing the first two games before tonight.
Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss was named the MVP of the tournament after posting a double-double tonight with 12 kill and 12 digs. Sophomore blocker Mekana Barnes posted a career-high 24 kills and tied her career high with nine blocks to help her earn all-tournament honors and sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom -- who sprained her ankle twice this weekend -- was also named to the all-tournament team, tonight posting 59 assists, five kills, 10 digs and four blocks. Freshman libero Katelin Batten led the team with 20 digs, while senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney chipped in 14 and junior defensive specialist Jenni Hirneisen tallied a career-high four aces, as the Rams had a season high 11 on the night.
"Our team never gave up, fighting until the bitter end," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "Mekana was absolutely unstoppable tonight. When we played last week, we didn't convert very many point opportunities and tonight the difference was we started blocking balls in game three. Not only did it help us score points, but it took Utah of its rhythm."
Both sophomore outside hitter Airial Salvo and sophomore right side hitter Whitney Webb tallied 18 kills to lead the Rams, while sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Lovell chipped in 12 and both sophomore middle blocker Lori Baird and junior middle blocker Emillie Toone added 10 kills, wile Toone had a match-high 11 blocks and junior libero Connie Dangerfield had a match-high 24 digs.
The teams were tied at every point from one to seven to open the match when Utah took a three point lead after a missed serve by the Rams and two Ute kills made the score 10-7. The teams then traded points to 13-11 when Utah scored three straight to lead 16-11. Mokelki got a kill then Fornstrom and Nelson combined for a block to pull within three, 16-13. Utah went on a four-point run, then the Rams answered with a run of their own, scoring four straight with three kills by Strauss to make the score 20-17 and the Utes called for a break. The teams again traded points to 22-19 when Utah scored two straight, then CSU scored two straight off kills by Barnes and Mokelki to make the score 24-21. Utah scored three of the next four, but the Rams answered with two straight to again close within three, 27-24, but could get no closer and went on to win 30-25.
Toone and Salvo combined for five kills in the first seven points to give Utah the early 6-1 lead in game two. After a CSU timeout, the Rams scored three of four, including an ace by Batten to close to 7-4. Utah scored three of four to lead again by five, 10-5, before another kill by Mokelki. The Utes then utilized a five-point run to increase the lead to nine, 15-6. After the timeout, a Utah error gave the Rams their seventh point, then the Utes continued rolling, scoring five of six points for a 12 point lead, 20-8. Another missed Utah serve gave the Rams their ninth point, then a Webb kill made the score 21-9. The Rams then scored four straight, including two kills by Barnes, a block by her and Strauss and an ace by Fornstrom to make the score 21-13 and the Utes called for a break. Utah scored two after the timeout, but the Rams hung in there, scoring five of six, including an ace by Jenni Hirneisen to close within six, 24-18. Salvo then blasted three straight kills for the 27-18 Utah lead and Hilbert used his final timeout. Nelson got a kill, but Utah scored the final three to win 30-19.
The Rams took a 2-1 lead in game three, but the Utes scored to straight to take back a 3-2 lead. The Rams knotted the score at 3-3, but Utah went on a five-point run to lead 8-3 and CSU called a timeout. Trailing 11-5, the Rams scored three straight with two kills by Whitney to close to 11-8, but the Utes once again went on a run, scoring four of five to take the 15-9 lead. Nelson got a kill and Fornstrom and Barnes combined for a block to help the Rams score two of three out of the television timeout to make the score 16-11, when Utah had another four-point run for the 20-11 advantage. Hilbert called his final timeout and Barnes and Mokelki notched back-to-back kills, and a Utah error pulled the Rams within six, 20-14. Trailing 22-15, Barnes got another kill, then an ace serve for the 22-17 score. Salvo had a kill, then the Rams had another two kills for 23-19. Whitney then echoed what Barnes had just done, getting a kill then served an ace to pull within three, 24-21. After two Utah points, the Rams scored three straight, with a solo block and kill by Barnes to make the score 26-24. After a Utah timeout, Lovell recorded a Utah kill, the Rams scored three straight to tie the score at 27-27. The score was also tied at 28 and the Rams tied the score at 29 with a block by Barnes and Mokelki of Salvo. The game was tied at 30, 31 and 32 before Strauss and Barnes recorded back-to-back kills for the 34-32 CSU win. Barnes led the Rams with six kills and six blocks in game three alone.
Colorado State scored four of the first five points of game four, with two kills by Barnes to give the Rams their largest lead so far of the match, 4-1. Utah scored three of the next four to close within one, 5-4, but the Rams had two Mokelki kills and a Hirneisen ace for the 8-4 lead. Hirneisen served another ace after the Utah timeout, then the Utes scored three of the next four to make the score 13-10 and then Fahnestock recorded a kill and Fornstrom and Barnes had another block for the 15-10 lead and a tv timeout. The Utes hung tough, scoring four of five out of the break to close within two at 16-14, then the teams traded points. CSU had three of the next four points to lead 19-15, then Utah answered with three of the next four to pull within two, 20-18. The Rams then scored five straight with two Fahnestock kills and a Whitney ace to increase the lead to seven, 25-18. Utah switched setters, putting in sophomore Shannon Krug and she connected with Baird for a kill, but the Rams scored four of the final five to force a game five, 30-20.
Utah took the early 2-1 lead in the final frame, but the Rams scored three straight, including an ace by Fornstrom for the 4-2 lead. The two teams then missed the next four serves for the 6-4 score. The teams then made there serves, but still rotated points to 8-7 when the Rams scored four of the next five, including two more Barnes kills and an ace by Batten to lead 12-8 when Utah called a timeout. After a Lovell kill, the Rams had two straight and the Utes called their final timeout. Anderson recorded a solo block for the Utes 10th point, but Barnes tallied her 24th kill for the victory.
Colorado State will find out tomorrow where they will play in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will air between 1-1:30 (Mtn) on ESPNews.
