Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Air Force
No. 12 CSU downs Air Force
10/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2008
By Luke Simmons
Athletic Media Relations
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – For the past 13 years, Colorado State-Air Force volleyball matches have had predictable and somewhat redundant outcomes. And Thursday was no exception.
The 12th-ranked Rams topped the Falcons (25-11, 25-20, 25-23) to earn their 29th consecutive victory over the Academy. After losing their inaugural meeting in 1982, the Rams have not dropped a match to their in-state rivals since the 1995 season, when the two began playing annual conference matches.
Danielle Minch and Mekana Barnes led the team with nine kills each, while the Rams were simply dominant on the serve. CSU (12-1, 4-0) recorded a season-high 12 aces, including career nights from Katelin Batten (3) and Katelyn Steffan (4). In all, six different players recorded an ace for the Rams.
The Falcons (4-12, 0-5) led for much of the third set, holding leads as high as six to force the thought of a fourth set into the minds of the Rams. But after a timeout taken by CSU Head Coach Tom Hilbert with the Falcons leading 19-13, the Rams stormed on a 12-4 run to take the match.
“Game 3 we played a lineup we’ve only played in practice, so it had some negative impact on us,” said Hilbert. “But our team came back, and we did some good things tonight.”
After cruising through the first set with their regular lineup, the Rams saw the match get progressively tougher as they inserted many fresh faces into their rotation. All 14 players on the bench saw action, including freshman Lisa Weintraub, who made her debut for the Rams.
“It’s a good opportunity to get (the younger players) in games,” Hilbert said. “I wish we could have gotten more separation in the second and third sets, so I could have gotten (freshman setter) Evan Sanders in more.”
Players on both teams wore pink hair ties, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
The Rams will return to Fort Collins to take on No. 24 Arizona Saturday night at Moby Arena. The Rams defeated the Wildcats in three sets last season in Tucson.
“Arizona’s very good, and significantly better than when we played them last year,” said Hilbert. “They’ve returned every player, are very athletic, and are going to be a challenge for us. We’re going to need to switch gears and be ready for a tough match.”
