Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Cal
Volleyball Falls In Four To #13 Cal
9/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 8, 2006
The Colorado State volleyball team dropped a four-game decision to the 13th-ranked California Golden Bears in the Golden Bear Invitational, 30-16, 30-25, 19-30, 30-25. With the loss, the Rams fall to 4-3 on the season, while Cal remains undefeated at 7-0.
Senior outside hitter Katherine Whitney led the Rams with 13 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Jaime Strauss and sophomore middle blocker Mekana Barnes each added 11 kills. Sophomore setter Ashley Fornstrom tied her career-high with five aces, and freshman libero Katelin Batten tallied 13 digs. Whitney also led the team with two blocks. The Rams hit .259 for the match, but missed 24 serves and had just 37 digs.
Cal, who is coached by Rich Feller, the former CSU coach, was led by Angie Pressey, Natalie Smart and Hana Cutura with 12 kills each. Cutura also added three aces, while Pressey led the match with 15 digs and Ellen Orchard had a match-high three blocks. Cal hit .317 for the match with seven aces, four blocks and 52 digs.
"We played a little bit nervous, especially serving and passing," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "Otherwise, I think we would have competed better with these guys. When we were serving and passing we were right in there. You can't miss six serves a game, that just kills you."
Barnes got the first three kills for the Rams, but the Rams missed three serves early to tie the score in game one at 4-4 before Cal scored seven of the next eight points, including another missed serve by CSU to take the 11-5 lead. The Rams called a time out and were able to score the next two, one off a Tessa Nelson kill to close within four at 11-7. Cal then scored the next six points to increase its lead to 10 at 17-7 when Hilbert used his final timeout. The Rams scored the next point off a missed Cal serve. The Bears scored the next two, then made three straight errors, but on a long hit by Pressley, a Ram was called in the net to give the Bears the 20-10 lead. Trailing 22-10, the Rams scored four straight for a 22-14 score, but only managed two points in the final 10 to drop game one 30-16. Barnes and Tonya Mokelki each had three kills in the opening frame to lead the Rams.
Whitney got a kill to tie the score at 1-1 in game two before Cal scored four straight to take the 5-1 lead. Barnes and Whitney combined for a block and then Cutura hit the antenna as the Rams pulled to within two at 5-3. After the teams traded points to 9-7, Cal scored eight of the next 10 points to take its largest lead of the game at 17-9. CSU scored the next three points, including kills by Barnes and Strauss for the 17-12 score. Trailing 21-16, the Rams got their first block of the match, with Fornstrom and Nelson combining to stuff Pressey, who hit an error on her next attempt as CSU climbed within three, 21-18. Cal scored three of the next four, but the Rams scored three straight, including a Whitney kill and a Fornstrom ace to close to a two-point deficit, 24-22. The Bears answered with their own three-point run and Hilbert called a timeout trailing 27-22. Colorado State scored four of the next six points, but missed three serves to give Cal the 30-26 victory. Strauss recorded four kills and Whitney had five in the second stanza.
After the long break, the Rams came out much more focused. Whitney recorded three kills with a Fornstrom ace mixed in to give CSU the early 4-1 lead. After a Cal kill, the Rams scored a pair, including a block by Barnes and Mokelki for the 6-2 lead. At 7-4, the Rams scored three straight, with an ace by Hillegass for the 10-4 advantage. Leading 11-6, the Rams got back-to-back kills by Nelson and Whitney, forcing Feller into calling a timeout trailing 13-6. Batten missed the serve out of the timeout, but the Rams scored three of the next four to take their largest lead of the night at 16-8. Cal answered with a pair of points, then Strauss had two kills for the 18-11 lead. After a Carter kill, the Rams scored three of the next four with a pair of kills by Whitney to lead 21-12. A kill by Smart made the lead seven for the Rams, and then CSU scored six straight, including back-to-back aces for Fornstrom to lead by 13 at 27-14 and the Rams would go on to lead 30-19. Whitney had six kills, while Barnes chipped in four and Fornstrom had three aces in the third game.
The Rams went down 8-3 in the fourth stanza when Hilbert called a timeout. The Rams answered by scoring three of the next four to close within three, 9-6. Cal answered with five of the next seven points for the 14-8 lead, when the Rams countered with three-straight kills, two by Mokelki and one by Barnes to make the score 14-11. Cal again scored four of five points to extend the lead back to six at 18-12, when Amanda Fahnestock came in and scored a kill. Trailing 23-16, the Rams made a run, scoring five straight, including another Fornstrom ace to make the score 23-21, but couldn't come any closer and lost 30-25.
Colorado State will play No. 18 Pepperdine at noon tomorrow and American at 4:30. All times are Pacific. In the first match of the tournament, the Waves defeated the Eagles in three games.
