Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
BYU
Rams continue to roll, post sweep over No. 24 BYU
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2008
By John Manuszak
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - For most teams, a stretch of five tough matches in 10 days with two against ranked teams and the start of conference play would be too much to handle. But not for the Colorado State Rams.
On Saturday night at Moby Arena in front of 3,667 fans, CSU (10-1, 2-0 MWC) outplayed the 24th-ranked BYU Cougars (8-3, 1-1 MWC) at Moby Arena and posted a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) in Mountain West conference action. The win gave the Rams their 21st consecutive win at Moby, which ties the program's longest win streak since the team won 21 straight matches from the end of the 2000 season to the beginning of the 2002 campaign.
Not only have the last 10 days been challenging, but the last two weeks have given the Rams a taste of some of the best volleyball in the country. In those two weeks, the Rams went 2-1 at the Asics Classic at Oregon State, which included a match against Pepperdine (currently ranked No. 21) and wins over Oregon State and Pacific, a road win at arch-rival Colorado (then undefeated), followed by home wins against North Carolina, No. 8 Florida, Mountain West foe Utah and Saturday against No. 24 BYU.
"It's great for us," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "Our players know how to battle. You want that. I don't want a stretch where we don't play good people. I don't want to get soft. I want our players to be alert, ready to go into battle every night."
For the Rams, a perfect 2-0 start in conference play is always important but wins over Utah and BYU to start conference play is extra special.
"These are games that we know we have to fight to win," said Mekana Barnes. "They're always going to put pressure on us. These are always emotional matches and it was good to get these two wins this weekend."
In the win, the Rams defense was simply dominant. BYU, which came into the match hitting .243 on the season, was held to .077 hitting in the match. CSU tallied 14.0 blocks in the win and forced the Cougars into 25 errors.
"Our defense is really good at controlling the ball," said Ashley Fornstrom. "Our defense stepped up tonight and led us."
Tessa Nelson and Jacque Davisson led the Rams defense as they each tallied five blocks. Barnes and Fornstrom led the offensive attack for the Rams. Barnes tallied 10 kills with no errors to hit .667, while Fornstrom tallied 31 assists.
In the final set, the Rams closed out the Cougars in impressive fashion. They used a quick 4-0 spurt to push their lead from 12-11 to 16-11, which gave them control of the match.
The Rams opened up the second set on fire as they took a commanding 6-0 lead in the early going. They pushed their lead to 9-2 before a 7-0 run by BYU tied the set at 9. CSU led 14-13 before it ripped off six of the next seven points to take a 20-14 lead on its way to the set win.
Nelson and Katelyn Steffan led the Rams' defensive effort in the first set. Each tallied a pair of blocks in the set and Crystin Rodrick sealed the first set win when her diving dig floated over the net and landed in the middle of six Cougars.
The Rams will enjoy a five-day break and then get back to action on Friday night at Moby Arena against the Wyoming Cowgirls at 7 p.m.
