Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
New Mexico
Rams get past Lobos at Moby
10/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 12, 2008
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By John Manuszak
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - On a historic day for Colorado State Rams volleyball Head Coach Tom Hilbert, his team gave him just the present he was looking for - a win.
On Sunday afternoon, Colorado State (16-1) extended its winning streak to 13 straight matches and 25 in a row at Moby Arena and in the process gave Hilbert his 300th win and the most in school history with a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind victory (25-17, 20-25, 20-25, 25-16, 15-12) over New Mexico (14-4).
"The honor is that I've really been able to stay at the same place so long," said Hilbert. "In college coaching that's rare. I've been very fortunate to have some good players and we've enjoyed some success. I love it here with the environment we have and the support this community gives us. Today, was a challenge for us but we put it together in the last two sets."
It was only fitting that a trio of seniors who have all been with Hilbert for their entire CSU careers would lead the Rams in the win. All-American Mekana Barnes continued her recent tear as she posted 19 kills on .314 hitting and six blocks while Jaime Strauss also continued her hot play by tallying 18 kills on .234 hitting. Setter Ashley Fornstrom posted a season-high 59 assists and moved within three assists of setting the all-time MWC record for career assists.
It was a battle for the Rams who, after winning the first set, dropped the next two and fell behind by a set for only the second time at home this season. In that match, against Wyoming on Sept. 26, the Rams dropped the first set before winning the match in five sets. Sunday, CSU faced a 2-1 deficit but answered back thanks in part to the Moby Arena crowd of 2,017.
"I don't think we were thinking about being down 2-1," said Strauss. "We knew we could play better if we played together. I don't think we got rattled."
After falling behind early in the fourth set, CSU responded midway through the set with a 4-0 run that gave them an 11-8 lead. They would then gain some separation with another 4-0 run that pushed their lead to 16-12 and then took over the set, to draw even in the match, when they tallied eight of the final 11 points. The Rams held the Lobos to .028 hitting in the fourth set while CSU hit at a .300 clip.
In the fifth and final set, the Rams fell behind 3-1 but used a Barnes block and an emphatic Danielle Minch kill to take a 4-3 lead. Barnes and Minch then combined on a block to give the Rams a 5-4 lead. Barnes posted a kill to make it 12-11 and then the duo of Barnes and Minch combined on another block to put CSU up 13-11. One final Barnes kill made it 14-12 and then the Rams finished off the match with a Minch smash.
"It's wonderful to experience that type of match with this team," said Hilbert. "Our seniors were tremendous. After we lost the third set, I was trying to be calm and these guys were getting after it. They had a refuse- to- lose mentality to them and I liked what I heard from them. That was really good for us."
Early in the match it looked like the Rams might have an easy afternoon as they never trailed in the first set and rolled to a 25-17 set win. But after a second set that saw the Lobos take it to the Rams, CSU knew it was in for a challenge.
New Mexico was back at it again in the third set as they took a 17-16 lead and hung on for the set win to take a 2-1 lead to set up the dramatic Rams comeback.
The victory certainly wasn't a thing of beauty but it got the job done and gave the Rams some separation in the tightly packed Mountain West Conference. The Rams, alone in first place, sit at 6-0 in conference play while the Utah Utes at 5-2 are second in the standings. New Mexico fell to 4-3 in the conference and now sit in a tie for fourth place.
After playing 11 of their first 16 matches at home, the Rams will begin a stretch of their schedule where they play five of the next six on the road. They will begin that stretch on Thursday night at UNLV where first serve is set for 8 p.m. MT. CSU will continue its road trip on Sunday afternoon when they visit San Diego State for a 2 p.m. MT match.
"Maybe it was good to have a match like this before we go on the road," said Barnes. "We have to fight on the road; it's not going to be as comfortable as it is in Moby with all our fans supporting us. We are going to have to go on the road and fight if we want to be successful."
