Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
New Mexico
Volleyball Wins Conference Home Opener
9/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2006
Box Score | Photo Gallery
The Colorado State volleyball team evened its season record with at three-game sweep over the New Mexico Lobos in front of 1,361 fans in Moby Arena this evening, 30-16, 31-29, 30-25. With the win, the Rams improve to 6-6 on the year and 1-2 in Mountain West Conference action, while the Lobos fall to 4-9 and 0-2 in league play.
Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss led the Rams with 14 kills and a .385 hitting percentage (14-4-26) and chipped in 10 digs, while senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney tallied 11 kills and freshman libero Katelin Batten led the match with 12 digs. Freshman middle blocker Tessa Nelson and junior middle blocker Amanda Fahnestock each had five blocks in the victory.
"Game one was very good," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "We didn't play extremely well in the other two games, especially game two, but I'm proud of them for making the comeback."
New Mexico was led by Anna Lehne with seven kills and a .400 hitting percentage (7-1-15), while middle blocker Allison Suiter led the match with nine blocks and sophomore libero Gayle Tripp had nine digs. Junior Jennifer Heasty also tallied two aces for the Lobos.
"Jaime is growing up a lot," continued Hilbert. "She's learning to refocus and keep control of her emotions on the court. Amanda is a very good transition hitter. She does some good things and creates some excitement."
Colorado State led the whole first game, but then New Mexico scored the first six points of game two. The Rams slowly battled back, tying the score for the first time at 17-17 and went on to win in extra points, 31-29 on an ace serve by senior Lindsey Hillegass - her only serve of the evening. In the third stanza, there were 11 ties and four lead changes before the Rams took the lead for good at 21-20.
The Rams host TCU tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. The Horned Frogs defeated Air Force in three games earlier this evening, 30-19, 30-18, 30-22 to improve to 13-2 on the year and 2-0 in league play.
