Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
TCU
Rams win streak reaches 12
10/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2008
By John Manuszak
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – On Thursday night at home against TCU, the Colorado State Rams weren’t perfect, but they certainly got the job done. The Rams (15-1, 5-0 MWC) dominated the first, second and fourth set on their way to posting a 3-1 win (25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 25-11) over TCU (14-5, 3-3 MWC) to extend their winning streak to 12 consecutive matches and 24 straight inside Moby Arena.
For the second consecutive match, All-American Mekana Barnes made the difference, but not without a little help from her friends. Barnes tallied 13 kills on .458 hitting and added seven blocks in the win. She has been especially solid as of late as she has averaged 14.5 kills on .490 hitting in the last two matches. Jaime Strauss added 15 kills, Katelyn Steffan tallied 11 kills on .350 hitting and Ashley Fornstrom dished out 44 assists for the Rams in the win. In addition, Danielle Minch played her second solid match in a row as she posted three of her seven kills in the decisive set four.
“We played well in the first two sets and then the third set came,” said Rams Head Coach Tom Hilbert. “Our players composed themselves, they came back, and we did well in the fourth set. We came back to good serving, good blocking and good defense. When we do that, we can beat people.”
The Rams dominated the first two sets and looked poised to for a sweep. TCU, though, had other ideas.
In the third set the Horned Frogs showed why they entered Thursday’s match with a 14-4 record. The Rams tallied the first point of the set but that’s about all the momentum they would have in the set. The Horned Frogs quickly jumped out to an 11-4 lead and never looked back as they rolled to a 25-16 set win.
The third set loss sparked the Rams though and they steamrolled TCU in the fourth and final set.
“We came back from the loss of a set on Tuesday and tonight,” said Barnes. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing if we’re able to come back and play well the next set and that’s what we did tonight.”
Colorado State certainly played well in the set as they gained control early by taking a 6-1 lead. That lead would grow to 19-6 as they used five straight points midway through the set to finish off the Horned Frogs. The Rams held TCU to .028 hitting in the fourth set.
The Rams opened the match with a 25-20 win thanks in part to keeping the TCU attack off balance. CSU recorded three blocks and held the Horned Frogs to .147 hitting. They continued their strong defensive play into the second set. With the set tied at 10, the Rams ripped off nine of the next 11 points to take a 19-12 lead. Barnes posted four of the Rams’ five blocks in the set and forced TCU into seven hitting errors.
Next up for the Rams is a visit from the New Mexico Lobos on Sunday at Moby Arena with first serve set for 1 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports.
Match Notes
• On “Dig Pink Night” at Moby Arena, every member of the Rams team wore some pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Fans attending the match had the opportunity to pledge a dollar amount for each dig CSU recorded. CSU tallied 55 digs in the match.
• Tom Hilbert moved within one win of reaching CSU career win No. 300, which will give him the most wins in school history.
