Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Hilton Classic
8/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 22, 2006
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The Hilton Classic
Friday, Aug. 25 Missouri State (0-0) vs. Morgan State (0-0) 5:00 p.m.
Texas A&M (0-0) at Colorado State (0-0) 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 26 Texas A&M vs Missouri State 10:00 a.m.
Morgan State at Colorado State Noon
Texas A&M vs Morgan State 5:00 p.m.
Missouri State at Colorado State 7:00 p.m.
Hilton Classic: Colorado State begins its season hosting the Hilton Classic. This is the 19th year of the tournament. Both Morgan State and Missouri State will be first-time participants in the Classic, but this will be Texas A&M's third-appearance as the Aggies were in the first tournament in 1986 and again in 1996. Arizona and Loyola Marymount have also competed in the tournament three times. The Rams have won the tournament the previous two seasons and 12 of the 18 seasons they have hosted.
Picked Third: Colorado State was picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference this season in a vote by the league's head coaches and selected media. The Rams received two first-place votes and 102 points, while Utah and BYU tied for first place with six first-place nods each and 116 points. This marks the second-straight season the Rams have been picked third in the pre-season standings.
The Returners Bring: Colorado State returns 67.6 percent of its service aces from a year ago, along with 61.9 percent of its digs, 50.9 percent of its blocks and 95.9 percent of its assists. The Rams also return 36.7 percent of their offensive firepower from the 2005 squad.
A New Role: Senior 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.
First Serve: Colorado State is 22-7-1 all-time in season openers, after defeating Cal State Northridge in three games to open last year. Under Tom Hilbert, the Rams are 7-2 in season openers with both losses coming to teams ranked in the top five (#4 Stanford in 2003, #5 Minnesota in 2004).
Battle Tested: In 2005, only two players saw action in all 108 of the team's games and both return for 2006. Katherine Whitney played in all 108 games a year ago and in her two years with the Rams, has played in 179 games. Junior Tonya Mokelki was the starting right-side hitter in all 108 games in 2005 and played in 35 as a freshman in 2004, totaling 143 for her career. Sophomore Mekana Barnes played in 105 games, while sophomore Ashley Fornstrom played in 104 and sophomore Jaime Strauss played in 101.
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).
She Digs It: Last season, Katherine Whitney tied the school single-season record for matches with 20 or more digs, hitting the mark five times. Her five matches of 20 or more digs also ties for the third most in a career in school history, with the school record being nine by Carrie Appleman.
Setting The Table: After one season at Colorado State, Ashley Fornstrom already ranks ninth in school history with 1,218 assists and is just 325 shy of moving into eighth on the list. Her 11.71 per game average also ranks sixth on the school's career charts.
Tournament Connections: Each of the three visiting teams have a connection to either Fort Collins or Colorado State in some fashion. Morgan State's director of athletics is Floyd Kerr, who will be inducted into the Colorado State Hall of Fame later this fall after a stellar career as a basketball player for the Rams. Also, Morgan State junior outside hitter Esther Johnson hails from Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain High School. She played volleyball with current Ram basketball standout Sara Hunter. The head coach at Missouri State, Melissa Stokes, was an assistant coach for Tom Hilbert at Idaho for five seasons. Texas A&M has two Colorado products on its roster, freshman Sarah Ammerman, who, along with Ram freshman Katelin Batten, was named to the Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado team, and Cara Quayle from Greenwood Village and played at Cherry Creek, a conference rival of Mekana Barnes' ThunderRidge team.
Aces Wild: Both Katherine Whitney and Ashley Fornstrom recorded 30 or more aces in 2005, marking the seventh consecutive season the Rams have had at least a pair with 30 or more points each from the service line.
Third Year Straight: For the third straight season, Colorado State will begin the season with a freshman at the starting libero position. Katelin Batten will start in 2006, while last season Kelsey Hoff started the first five matches before leaving the team and in 2004, Kristen Karlik started at the libero position.
Top Returner: Among returning players in the Mountain West Conference, setter Ashley Fornstrom ranks second in assists against all opponents and first against league foes, while Mekana Barnes ranks fourth in blocks against all opponents and fifth in league play. Tonya Mokelki ranks seventh in hitting percentage against all opponents and Katherine Whitney is fourth in digs and eighth in aces against all opponents and third in digs and eighth in aces in conference play.
By The Numbers:
• Katherine Whitney is 16 digs shy of 600 at Colorado State and is just 67 digs shy of her 1,000th career dig.
• Mekana Barnes needs 10 kills to reach 250 for her career.
• Whitney is also just three kills shy of 450 for her career.
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.
Winning Ways: Colorado State has the best winning percentage in Mountain West Conference history. In the six years of the conference, the Rams are 190-40 overall (.826) and are 89-11 (.890) against league foes. The next best winning percentage in the league is Utah at .736 (162-58) overall and .770 (77-23) in conference play. With 10 more victories, the Rams will become the first team in the Mountain West to win 200 matches.
Closing In: Head Coach Tom Hilbert is just nine wins shy of his 250th at Colorado State. In his 10th season, Hilbert sports a 241-54 (.817) record with the Rams.
