Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball travels to Las Vegas
10/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2007
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State volleyball moved up three spots to No. 18 on the eve of one of the season's most challenging matches against UNLV. The Rams travel to Las Vegas for a single match this week after the cancellation of Saturday's San Diego State contest. The Rams are on the verge of a milestone as they are one win short of 650 program victories.
Ashley Fornstrom was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week after notching her second career triple-double (52a-14d-10b) against Utah. The Rams were 2-0 last week sweeping BYU and defeating the Utes in four games.
The Rebels are sitting second in the Mountain West standings with a 7-2 MWC record. They are 16-3 overall. UNLV's conference losses have been to the Rams and San Diego State, both on the road. Vegas is led by two-time MWC Player of the Week Maria Aladjova, who averages 4.58 kills per game and is hitting .263. The Rebels run a fast offense with three seniors anchoring the lineup. Setter Melody Nua has 863 assists this season, an average of 13.28 per game.
The Rams defeated the Rebels in four games at Moby Arena earlier this season, for a 21-4 overall series record. UNLV holds an 8-3 advantage on its home court. The series is 3-2 in favor of the Rams in the last five match-ups.
More than halfway through Mountain West competition, the Rams are leading with a 9-1 record. CSU has stayed atop the conference with a potent offense. The Rams are ranked fifth in the nation in kills per game, averaging 17.09. CSU also is ranked fifth in blocks per game with Mekana Barnes leading the way and ranking second individually. The Rams are 14th in the nation in hitting percentage and 14th in assists per game. Fornstrom ranks eighth individually in assists per game while Barnes ranks 13th in hitting percentage.
A junior for the Rams leads in every category with the exception of digs. Fornstrom leads in assists with 13.69 per game; Barnes leads in hitting percentage (.402), service aces (19) and blocks (127). Jaime Strauss leads in kills per game (4.19) and kills (281).
Sophomore Katelin "Batty" Batten is averaging more than four digs per game. She ranks fourth in the Mountain West and is the only underclassman on the list this season. Halfway through the season she had 303 digs and is on pace to break her single-season dig record from last year (438). She has double-figure digs in every MWC match of her career and has just two matches in which she did not reach double figures, both were non-conference matches. She also ranks fifth all-time with 4.33 career digs per game.
Free live stats coverage will be available for the UNLV match on the CSU Web site. At this time the match with San Diego State has not been rescheduled. Colorado State will travel to Denver for a non-conference match Tuesday at 7 p.m.