Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Florida
Gators Put End To Rams' Season
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 6, 2008
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Colorado State Rams dropped a tough first set and could never recover as the Florida Gators knocked them out of the NCAA tournament in a second round match at The O'Connell Center on Saturday night. The No. 15 seed Gators, playing on their home court, posted a 3-0 win (25-21, 25-17, 25-23) which put an end to the Rams season.
Despite the final score, the Rams gave the Gators all they could handle, but Florida was able to tally the key points near the end of each set.
"In sets one and three, we were playing well but we just couldn't score critical points," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "We made some mistakes at those times and they didn't make any and that was a big key."
The loss puts an end to the Rams season as CSU finishes the 2008 campaign with a 23-7 mark; its 14th straight season with 20 or more wins. The loss also put an end to the careers of the Rams three seniors - Mekana Barnes, Ashley Fornstrom and Jaime Strauss. In their four years in Fort Collins, the three players led the Rams to a record of 87-34 and four straight berths in the NCAA tournament.
"They (three seniors) are just great kids," said Hilbert. "All three of them are from 75 miles from Fort Collins and all have been starters here for four years. Their teams have gotten better each year, they have been fun to coach and it's been fun to watch them grow."
The Gators, who moved to 15-0 at home on the season, advance to the Fort Collins regional and will take on the winner of the Stanford - Long Beach State match on Friday at Moby Arena.
With the Rams holding a 7-6 lead in the first set, the teams exchanged a rally of at least a dozen attacks before Strauss hit a kill off the Gators blockers. That point seemed to energize the Rams as they would push their lead to 13-9 before the Gators called timeout. The two teams would exchange 3-0 runs before a Kelly Murphy kill tied the set at 18. The set would be tied two more times (19-19, 20-20) before the Gators scored five of the final six points to seal the set win.
The Rams were led by Barnes, who tallied 10 kills on .350 hitting adding four blocks. Strauss posted nine kills and 10 digs while Danielle Minch and Katelyn Steffan each added seven kills.
Florida (27-3) had three players tally seven or more kills, led by Callie Rivers with nine kills. Kelly Murphy (8 kills) and Colleen Ward (7) also chipped in for the Gators.
The Rams would not go away quietly in the third set as CSU jumped out to a 6-3 lead before Barnes went to work. The senior tallied three straight smashes to put the Rams up 9-6. Florida would mount a minor comeback and tie the set at 12 before a quick 3-0 burst by the Rams put them up 15-12. The Gators would creep back but the Rams kept them at bay and never trailed until Florida blocked a Davisson attack that put the Gators up 22-21. A late Barnes block gave the Rams hope as they held a 23-22 late in the set but the Gators tallied the final three points of the set to seal the win.
In the second set, the Gators used a 6-2 run midway through the frame to build a 15-9 lead. But CSU answered with a quick 3-0 run that brought them back to within three points (15-12). The Gators though, scored three of the next four points to go up 18-13 and maintained at least a four-point cushion for the remainder of the set to go up 2-0.
