Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Heads To Wyoming
9/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2006
Match Notes vs Wyoming
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Last Time Out: The Rams evened their conference record at 2-2 with three game sweeps over New Mexico and TCU in Moby Arena. Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss led the Rams in kills in both matches with 14 against the Lobos and 12 against the Horned Frogs. Freshman libero Katelin Batten also led the team in digs with 12 both evenings. Sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom recorded a career-high six kills against TCU and also had four aces in the match. The Rams hit .273 for the week with 17.33 kills, 2.00 aces, 14.50 digs and 2.83 blocks per game.
Hall of Honor: Head Coach Tom Hilbert will be inducted into the Colorado State Hall of Honor, announced the CSU Former Athletes Association. Hilbert will be honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet Nov. 3. He will be honored along with five former student-athletes who achieved national prominence in their respective sports during induction ceremonies, including former volleyball standout Angela Knopf (1998-2001).
Service For Four: A total of four Rams combined for nine aces against TCU, marking the first time this season the Rams tallied more aces than errors (7) in a match. Ashley Fornstrom led the way with four aces, while junior middle blocker Amanda Fahnestock and Katelin Batten each added two and Jaime Strauss notched one ace.
Double Trouble: Jaime Strauss has now recorded three straight double-doubles for the Rams in kills and digs. The sophomore has six this season and for her career. With two more consecutive matches in double figures in digs and kills, Strauss will tie Melissa Courtney, Catie Vagneur, Jill Johnson and Diane Saba for second in school history with five straight double-doubles. The school record is eight, held by Carrie Appleman in 1992.
100 Twice: Both Ashley Fornstrom and freshman middle blocker Tessa Nelson notched their 100th career kills against TCU on Saturday. Fornstrom had a career-high six kills in the win, with her final dump being her 100th, while Nelson is now at 103.
Just Resting: Sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes played sparingly over the weekend, resting a sore ankle. She did play the final four points of the match, recording one kill on two swings.
Making The Most Of It: Amanda Fahnestock has played the last three matches as a middle blocker for the Rams, starting in two. She has notched 25 kills in the 10 games, along with 10 blocks, three aces and 12 digs and is hitting .353 (25-7-51) over the stretch. She also notched the 200th kill of her career with her final one against TCU.
It Just Looked Empty: In Friday's box score, junior defensive specialist Jenni Hirneisen had zero's across the board, however, what didn't show was her serving statistics. She nailed all seven of her attempts and now has eight on the year with no aces and no errors.
Little of This, Little of That: Ashley Fornstrom has had three of more kills six times this season to go along with two or more aces in five matches, five or more digs in nine matches and three or more blocks nine times this year. The sophomore setter leads the team in aces, is second in blocks, fourth in digs and is third on the team hitting .253 for the year, not to mention at least 34 assists in every match. She also has just one hitting error in her last 25 attempts, hitting .480 during the stretch (13-1-25).
A Short Time Away: Tessa Nelson needs just 79 more kills to appear on the Colorado State freshman list. She is also just 11 blocks shy of taking over 10th on that freshman list and currently ranks fifth in school history with 1.00 blocks per game.
It's All In The Hands: Ashley Fornstrom is the only player on the team to have more service aces than errors with 18 aces and 10 errors this season. The sophomore is serving at a .950 clip, as she has attempted 201 serves this year. For her career, Fornstrom has 49 aces and 51 errors in 687 attempts for a .926 accuracy.
Digging Doubles: Katelin Batten has been in double figures in digs in 11 straight matches. Her streak is the third longest in school history and is just two matches shy of tying the school record of 13 by Carrie Appleman in 1992. The freshman has only had one match this year where she has not been in double figure digs and that was the second match of the year against Morgan State, where she tallied eight.
A Look Back: Last season 13 matches into the year, the Rams were 9-4 overall and 3-1 in MWC play, with two losses coming to ranked opponents. This year the Rams are 7-6 and 2-2 in league play with four ranked losses. This biggest difference from a year ago is in the serving. This year, the Rams have 72 aces (1.50 per game) and 128 errors (2.67 per game) compared with just 52 aces (1.13) and 141 errors (3.07) last season -- more than an entire game worth of points better.
Super Primaries: For the first time since 1999 the Rams have three players averaging over 2.5 digs per game. Katelin Batten leads the way with 3.27 a game, while Jaime Strauss is averaging 2.69 per game and senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney is averaging 2.5. The trio has also received 1027 of the opponent's 1075 serves this season for a .952 accuracy.
Freshmen Phenoms: Freshmen Katelin Batten and Tessa Nelson have both played in all 48 games for the Rams this season. Batten leads the team with 3.27 digs per game, while Nelson leads with 1.00 blocks per game. Nelson is also averaging 2.15 kills per game and hitting at a .252 clip.
More Kills Please: Junior rightside hitter Tonya Mokelki recorded 21 kills against BYU, the most by a Ram this season and the highest total since Dre Downs tallied 29 against CU in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Mokelki's 21 kills is also the most by a right-side hitter since Janie Penfield tallied 21 against Washington State in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 7, 1997 -- a span of 272 matches.
Whose Turn Is It?: All five starting hitters for Colorado State have led the team in kills in at least one match this season. Jaime Strauss has led the team a team-high five times, while Mekana Barnes has led the team three times, Tessa Nelson has led twice, Tonya Mokelki and Katherine Whitney have each led once and Strauss and Whitney shared the honors once.
Batten Down The Hatches: Katelin Batten's 3.27 digs per game will be a new single season freshman record if she continues her pace. The current freshman record is 2.55 digs per game held by Angela Knopf in 1998. Batten is also on pace to break the single-season freshman record of 270 digs, held by Nalani Yamashita from 1992. Batten already has 157 digs 13 matches into the season.
Fantastic Fans: Colorado State ranks 16th in the nation in attendance this season. The Rams are averaging 1,581 per match, which is also second in the conference behind the 1,965 that BYU is averaging (11th overall). Hawai'i leads the way with 7,252 fans per match and there are 10 teams in the nation over 2,000 fans per game.
Human Shovel: Jaime Strauss became the first non-libero since 2001 to record more than 20 digs in a five-game match, tallying 22 against Missouri State. She shattered her previous career high of 13 from the five-game match against Northern Iowa last season.
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.
Closing In: Head Coach Tom Hilbert is just two wins shy of his 250th at Colorado State. In his 10th season, Hilbert sports a 248-60 (.805) record with the Rams.
Over The Airwaves: The majority of Colorado State's matches this season can be heard on Yahoo.com. Cole Weinman will be doing the play-by-play, while Lance Moorman will be handling the color commentary. Select matches will also be aired on 90.5 FM, KCSU.
By The Numbers:
• Mekana Barnes is seven kills shy of her 350th career kill.
• Katelin Batten needs 43 digs for the 200th of her career.
• Amanda Fahnestock is just 10 digs shy of her 100th at Colorado State.
• Fahnestock also needs 14 blocks for the 100th of her career.
• Ashley Fornstrom's next ace will be the 50th of her career.
• Fornstrom is also 11 digs shy of 300 and is six blocks shy of 150.
• Tonya Mokelki is 14 kills shy of 450.
• Jaime Strauss needs eight kills for 200.
• With one more dig, Katherine Whitney will record her 700th at CSU.
• Whitney is 26 kills shy of 600 for her career and 47 shy of 200 at CSU.
A New Role: 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.
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.
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).
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.
Scouting The Opposition:
Wyoming: The Cowgirls sport a 7-5 season record and are 1-1 in Mountain West Conference play with a 3-0 victory at New Mexico and a five-game setback at TCU. Wyoming is a perfect 3-0 at home this season, but has not played there since Sept. 2 against New Orleans.
Junior outside hitter Rachel Smith leads the team with 4.20 kills per game, while freshman middle blocker Nicki Kent is hitting .325 to lead the team. Sophomore setter Tasha Weishahn is averaging 10.56 assists per contest, while freshman outside hitter Annie Meyers leads with 0.34 aces per game. Freshman Micah Lines, who began the season as libero and has recently begun swinging in the front row, leads with 4.07 digs per game, while junior middle blocker Lauren Scott leads with 0.79 blocks per game.
In the Cowgirls last match, a five-game loss at Denver, senior Andrea Seele played for the first time all year coming off an injury. Smith led the team with 18 kills, while sophomore libero Samantha Eley had a match-high 26 digs and Scott and Seele each had six blocks.
Colorado State holds the 41-18 advantage in the all-time series over Wyoming and has won the last 16 straight matches. The 16 straight wins ties for the second-longest active winning streak (Utah State) for the Rams, behind the 24 consecutive wins over Air Force.