Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
San Diego State
Volleyball advances with win over San Diego State
11/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Colorado State's middle blockers combined for 27 kills as the Rams advanced to the second round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament with a 3-0 (30-22, 30-20. 30-19) sweep of San Diego State on Thanksgiving night at the Cox Pavillon. Mekana Barnes hit .435 with a game-high 15 kills.
CSU hit .254 as a team and held the Aztecs to just. 075 hitting on the night. CSU never hit worse than .156 (game two), while knocking down a .280 hitting efficiency in game one and a .333 in the third frame. SDSU hit .098 in the first game, but dropped to .022 in the second before breaking .100 in the third at .108.
CSU had three players register double-digits in kills, while SDSU didn't have one attacker reach the mark. The Rams were led by 15 kills from Mekana Barnes, the 2007 MWC Player of the Year. Tonya Mokelki and Tessa Nelson knocked down 12 kills, apiece to round out the trio.
Ashley Fornstrom assisted on 49 of the Rams' 54 registered helpers.
Defensively, Jaime Strauss led all players with 15 digs and was closely followed by Katelin Batten's 13.
Colorado State advances to play Utah in the second round of the tournament Friday with the start time 30 minutes following the completion of the first semifinal between BYU and UNLV, approximately 6 p.m.
