Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Utah
Volleyball Falls In Three To #21 Utah
9/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2006
The Colorado State volleyball team fell in straight games to the 21st-ranked Utah Utes in Salt Lake to open Mountain West Conference action. With the loss, the Rams even their season record at 5-5, while the Utes improve to 8-2 on the year.
Sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes led the Rams with 11 kills and hit .304, while junior rightside hitter Tonya Mokelki chipped in nine kills and sophomore middle blocker Tessa Nelson had eight kills and hit .412. Sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom and Barnes each had four blocks, while freshman libero Katelin Batten led the team with 10 digs and had the only Ram ace of the evening.
"We had a couple of weak rotations," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "They (Utah) were able to take advantage and have long point runs, and without those, we would have stayed in the match."
Sophomore outside hitters Airial Salvo and Kathryn Lovell led the team with 11 kills each, while junior middle blocker Emillie Toone hit .467 and led the match with nine blocks, including three solo. Junior libero Connie Dangerfield led the match with 15 digs.
"Utah got 22 kills out of their outside blockers, while ours had only 10," continued Hilbert. "We have to be more consistent and cut down on opponent's point runs."
The Rams scored the first point of the match off a Utah error but the Utes rallied to score the next three points with two blocks. Fornstrom got a kill for the second Ram point, but Utah rattled off four straight for the early 7-2 lead. Colorado State responded with its own four point run, including kills by the middles -- Barnes and Nelson -- and a block by Strauss and Barnes to close within one at 7-6. Utah ran off three straight when Hilbert called a timeout. The Utes scored three of the next four to extend the lead to six at 13-7. CSU answered with a three-point run, including kills by Mokelki and Whitney to close within three at 13-10. Utah scored two more when a timeout was taken for tv. An ace serve by Baird gave the Utes the 16-10 lead, but the Rams scored five consecutive behind the tough serving of Barnes to make the score 16-15. During the run, Mokelki had a pair of kills and Barnes and Nelson each added one. Salvo and Toone tallied back-to-back kills for Utah to take a three-point lead at 18-15. The two teams traded points until 24-21 when Toone tallied a solo block on Whitney for the 25-21 lead and Hilbert called his final break. Mokelki and Whitney tallied back-to-back kills and after a Toone kill, Nelson got a kill and then combined with Fornstrom for a block for the 26-25 Utah lead. The Utes rallied to score four of the final five points and win game one 30-26. Mokelki led the Rams with five kills, while Fornstrom tallied seven digs. The Rams hit just .060, in part due to Utah's eight blocks.
The Rams again scored the first point off a Utah error, but just like the first game, the Utes scored the next three. A Utah error and an ace serve by Batten tied the score at 3-3. Leading 8-7, Utah scored five straight to take a six-point lead at 13-7, but the Rams rallied to score five of the next seven by three, 15-12 at the television break. Barnes notched a kill for the Rams, Baird and Lovell tallied one each for Utah and Barnes notched her fifth of the evening for a 17-14 Utah lead. The Utes scored nine of the next 10 points for the 26-15 lead. Whitney ended the streak with a kill off the block, for the 26-16 score, but the Rams could not muster a rally and fell 30-21. The Rams hit .000 for the second game with 10 kills and just four digs.
After the long break, Utah scored four of the first five points, but the Rams scored three of the next four, including a block by Strauss and Barnes to close within one at 5-4. Lovell recorded a Utah kill and then Barnes notched back-to-back kills to tie the score at 6-6. It was again tied at 7-7 before the Utes scored four straight in three long rallies for the 11-7 lead and CSU called a timeout. Utah scored two more before Mokelki hit a shot down the line for a kill to make the score 13-8. Mokelki missed her serve but then got a kill out of the back row to make the score 14-9. Toone got her seventh kill to make the score 15-9 and a television timeout. Dangerfield missed her serve and then Fornstrom was called for a blocking error and the Rams trailed 16-10. Barnes notched a kill and then combined with Mokelki for a block and after two Utah errors, the Rams found themselves within two at 16-14. After a Lovell kill, the Rams scored three of the next four to close within one, 18-17. After trading points, Utah scored four straight to extend its lead to 23-18 and Hilbert used his final timeout. Nelson and Strauss recorded back-to-back kills out of the break to make the score 23-20, but could come no closer, dropping the match in three-games, 30-24.
Colorado State travels to 19th-ranked BYU tomorrow night for a 7:00 p.m. match. The Rams conference home opener will be Friday, Sept. 23 against New Mexico, also slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.
