Match notes: No. 15 CSU hosts Denver, Wyoming

Oct. 18, 2010

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Match 20 | Denver
Oct. 22, 2010 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745)
• Gametracker:  Click Here
• Audio: Streaming | 90.5 FM (KCSU)
• Television:  None

Match 21 | Wyoming
Oct. 24, 2010 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745)
• Gametracker:  Click Here
• Audio: Streaming | 90.5 FM (KCSU)
• Television:  None

No. 15 CSU hosts Denver, Wyoming
The 15th-ranked Colorado State closes a four-match homestand this week, playing host to in-state foe Denver and “Border War” rival Wyoming. 

Wednesday’s match vs. DU marks CSU’s final non-conference match of the regular season.  The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.  The Rams will be wearing special pink uniforms and the match has been designated CSU’s annual “Dig Pink” event to help raise awareness for breast cancer. 

Friday’s contest vs. Wyoming will also feature new uniforms for the Rams, who will pay tribute to Colorado State’s heritage as the Colorado A&M Aggies by wearing the school’s former colors of pumpkin (orange) and alfalfa (green). First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Rams enter action this week with an overall record of 17-2 (7-0 MWC), and are riding a season-best eight-match winning streak. 

Rams on the radio
All home matches and the road contests at Wyoming (Nov. 18), will be broadcast live in the Fort Collins area on KCSU 90.5 FM.  Andy Boshoven (play-by-play) and Brandon Grose (color) will call all the action from courtside.  Fans outside the normal listening area can access streaming audio for broadcast matches via the Rams All-Access service on CSURams.com. 

Lights, cameras, action
Once again, Colorado State will be among the most televised teams in the Mountain West Conference.  CSU will appear on television at least five times this season, including matches vs. Colorado (CET - Aug. 31), at BYU (BYU-TV - Sept. 24), at Utah (CBS College Sports - Sept. 26), vs. TCU (The Mtn. - Oct. 14) and at New Mexico (The Mtn. - Nov. 11).

Follow the Rams online
Colorado State offers fans and media several options for following the CSU volleyball team.  In addition to CSURams.com, which is updated daily with all the latest news on CSU athletics, fans can also log onto RamVolleyball.colostate.edu for an inside look into all things Rams Volleyball.  In addition, CSU volleyball, and Head Coach Tom Hilbert are both on Twitter at twitter.com/CSUVolleyball and twitter.com/Coach Hilbert.  Rams volleyball is also on facebook (search: Colorado State University Volleyball), giving fans unprecedented access to CSU volleyball.     

A quick look at the Rams
Colorado State returned five starters and 10 letterwinners from a squad that went 25-6 (15-1 MWC), won the Mountain West Conference title, ranked No. 17 in the final top 25 poll, and appeared in the NCAA regional semifinals in 2009.  Add to that a recruiting class ranked No. 15 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com, and you have a team poised for big things entering 2010.

Recognized as one of the most consistent programs in the country over the past 15 seasons, CSU entered 2010 in search of its 16th consecutive season with 20-plus wins and an appearance in the NCAA tournament. 

The team received 15 of 16 first-place votes to run away with the top spot in the preseason Mountain West Conference rankings, tallying 134 total points.   

Senior OH Danielle Minch was tabbed as the preseason favorite to repeat as the MWC Player of the Year.  Junior S Evan Sanders, a 2009 all-MWC performer in her first season as a starter, was also selected as the preseason Setter of the Year.  Sophomore MB Megan Plourde also returns after a stellar year as a redshirt freshman in 2009, where she earned all-MWC honors, and along with Minch and departed senior libero Katelin Batten, was named to the AVCA all-West region and honorable mention All-America teams.   

About Denver
The Pioneers play their third consecutive road games on Wednesday against the Rams, coming off of two four-set conference wins.  Head Coach Beth Kuwata is currently in her 15th season at DU, and leading the Pioneers with a 5-5 record currently in the Sun Belt Conference.  Senior libero Kacie Wikierak is leading the team in digs with 350, while outside hitter Brea Muhle has racked up 238 kills on the season.

Kuwata took over the program in 1996 and has overseen its progression from the Division II level to a perennial Sun Belt Conference contender. Under her tutelage, the Pioneers have won four SBC West Division Titles (2000, 2005, 2007, 2008) and have made nine-consecutive appearances in the SBC Tournament.

Colorado State holds the all-time series advantage, 13-1, and have won three straight matches in the series since DU’s lone win 2005. 

About Wyoming
Wyoming travels to Fort Collins after coming off a three-game home stint.  The Cowgirls (18-4, 4-3 MWC) were swept by New Mexico last Thursday, but bounced back by defeating TCU in three sets on Saturday.  Wyoming will face Colorado Christian at home on Tuesday before facing the Rams on Friday night. 

The Cowgirls are led by sophomore OH Jodi Purdy, who was named MWC Player of the Week on Oct. 4.  Purdy averages 3.35 kills and 2.47 digs per set.  Head Coach Carrie Yerty  is 36-42 at the helm of the UW program. 

CSU leads the all-time series 49-18, including 24 consecutive victories. 

Rams vs. the MWC
Since the formation of the Mountain West Conference in 1999, the Colorado State volleyball team has proven to be the most successful program in the league.  The Rams have compiled a record of 147-24 (.859) in Mountain West Conference matches, including an impressive 79-6 (.929) mark at Moby Arena vs. the MWC, and a 68-18 (.791) record on the road in league action.  The team has averaged nearly 13 conference victories per season, and closed the 2009 season with 14 more victories than the next closest program, Utah (126-38). 

CSU in MWC openers
With a five-set victory at BYU to begin MWC play, the CSU volleyball team improved to 11-1 all-time in Mountain West Conference openers, with the lone loss coming in the 2006 opener at Utah. 

The Sept. 30 home win over San Diego State improved CSU’s mark to a perfect 11-0 in MWC home openers since the formation of the league in 1999. 

Streaking at home
With MWC home victories last week over TCU and New Mexico, the Rams have now defeated 27 consecutive conference foes at Moby Arena.  The Rams have completed perfect 8-0 conference records at home each year since 2007.  CSU’s last loss at Moby Arena to a Mountain West Conference program came Nov. 18, 2006, a 3-1 loss to No. 24-ranked Utah.

CSU is the only program in MWC history to record three consecutive seasons with an undefeated home record, also accomplishing the feat from 1999-2001.       

Rams earn MWC Player of the Week honors
Sophomore MB Megan Plourde was recognized Sept. 27 as the MWC Co-Player of the Week after leading CSU to conference opening wins at BYU and Utah.  She began MWC action with a 16-kill, 11-block effort against BYU, marking a career high for total blocks in a match.  Plourde followed that up with her fourth consecutive double-digit kills match when she tallied 10 kills on an impressive .562 attack percentage against the Utes.  She also led the Rams with seven total blocks in that match. For the week, Plourde averaged 3.25 kills, 2.25 blocks and 4.38 points per set, while hitting .426 (26-6-47) over eight sets.  She also had one dig. Plourde shared the honor with San Diego State’s Andrea Hannasch. 

Senior OH Danielle Minch earned her second-career MWC Player of the Week nod on Monday.  Minch led the Rams to MWC over TCU and New Mexico, returning from an ankle injury, to record a season-high 20 kills and had five blocks against the Horned Frogs.  The last kill of the match was the 1,000th of her career as a Ram.  Minch followed up with a team-high 10-kill, .375 hitting performance against New Mexico on Saturday. For the week, Minch averaged 3.75 kills, 0.75 blocks and 4.25 points per set, while hitting .288 (30-13-59) over eight sets.  She also had two digs.

Out with the old, in with the new
The Rams’ Sept. 30 home match vs. San Diego State was the final event at Moby Arena for the old scoreboard, with the new state-of-the-art videoboard was unveiled Oct. 14  when the Rams hosted the TCU Horned Frogs.  The $1 million upgrade, which includes a four-sided, center-hung video scoreboard, new stats boards at each endzone, and new scoreboards on the concourse level of Moby Arena, replaced the old system which was installed in 1995. 

All-tournament honors
Colorado State’s duo of Jacque Davisson and Megan Plourde earned all-tournament honors following the Rams’ 2-1 showing at the University of Florida’s Campus USA Credit Union Invitational, Sept. 3-4.  Davisson was selected as the tournament MVP, leading the Rams in kills in each of the three matches, including a match-high 19 kills in a four-set loss to the then-No. 6-ranked Gators.  Davisson averaged 4.3 kills per set and was solid defensively with 24 digs and four total blocks on the weekend.  Plourde finished third on the team with 23 kills, leading the charge for the Rams with 10 total blocks.   

Plourde followed up that performance with another all-tourney nod - along with teammates Evan Sanders and Danielle Minch - at CSU’s Rams Volleyball Classic presented Poudre Valley Health System, Sept. 10-11.  

Minch was tabbed the tournament MVP, leading the Rams with double-digit kills in each match, including a personal season-high 13 kills vs. Northeastern.  Overall, Minch hit .304 (35-14-69) in three matches and recorded eight block assists and two service aces.  Plourde led all players with a .605 (28-2-43) hitting percentage over the weekend.  She also notched a tourney-leading 16 total blocks.  Minch and Plourde ranked 1-2 among all players at the tournament in points per set, at 4.56 and 4.06, respectively.  Sanders recorded a tourney-leading 95 assists (10.56 per set), helping CSU to a team hitting percentage of .314 in the three matches, including a season-best .400 team hitting percentage vs. Illinois State.   

Rams vs. ranked opponents under Hilbert
Colorado State is 36-42 against nationally ranked opponents under Head Coach Tom Hilbert.  Since 2007, when CSU’s current crop of seniors first stepped on campus, the Rams have posted a record of 5-4 in regular-season matchups against top-25 opponents, including CSU’s losses  at then-No. 6 Florida on Sept. 4 and vs. No. 24 Long Beach State on Sept. 17. 

Moby Madness
Moby Arena is one of the most distinctive and effective homecourt playing facilities in the nation.  Colorado State boasted a 15-3 mark at Moby Arena in 2009, and is 10-1 in 2010. 

Since Tom Hilbert’s arrival in Fort Collins in 1997, the Rams have hosted 34 nationally ranked opponents, coming away with victories in 23 of those contests.  Prior to the Rams’ Sept. 17 loss to No. 24 Long Beach State, CSU had defeated five consecutive ranked opponents at Moby Arena dating back to a 3-0 victory over No. 13 Ohio State on Aug. 30, 2007.  During that stretch, the Rams also hosted and defeated opponents from Florida (No. 8 on Sept. 13, 2008), BYU (No. 24 on Sept. 20, 2008), Arizona (No. 25 on Oct. 4, 2008), and Washington (No. 6 on Dec. 4, 2009). 

Record-breaking crowd
The Moby Arena faithful established a new single-match attendance record for CSU volleyball during the Rams’ season-opening victory over Duke on Aug. 27.  As part of a special “White Out” promotion, 6,333 fans packed the stands of Moby, eclipsing the old CSU volleyball attendance mark of 6,260 set in 1988 (vs. BYU).  The Rams’ record crowd also established a new single-match home record for the Mountain West Conference, surpassing CSU’s own record set vs. BYU in 2001 (5,486).  CSU now owns the top three home crowds in MWC volleyball history.

In addition, CSU’s home crowd vs. Duke marked the biggest crowd at Moby Arena for any sport since men’s basketball drew 8,597 against Wyoming on Feb. 24, 2007. 

Colorado State enters action this week ranked No. 12 nationally in attendance, averaging 2,291 fans per match through the team’s first 11 home matches of the season. 
 
Rams in the rankings
Colorado State closed the 2009 season ranked No. 17 in the AVCA Coaches’ top-25 poll.  It marked the 13th time since 1982 that the Rams appeared in the final national rankings.  Eight of those final national rankings have come under the guidance of Head Coach Tom Hilbert:

Year	Final Rank	Record	Postseason
1997	19	27-6	NCAA Second Round
1999	12	30-3	NCAA Regional Semifinal
2000	10	32-5	NCAA Regional Semifinal
2001	10	29-4	NCAA Regional Semifinal
2003	14	30-5	NCAA Regional Semifinal
2004	19	26-4	NCAA First Round
2008	24	23-7	NCAA Second Round
2009	17	25-6	NCAA Regional Semifinal

Poll position
The Colorado State volleyball team opened the 2010 season ranked No. 17 nationally in the AVCA coaches top 25 preseason poll released Aug. 17.  It marked the third consecutive season that Colorado State has appeared in the preseason top 25.  Following opening-weekend victories over Duke and Furman, the Rams jumped to No. 15 in the Week 1 poll released Aug. 30.  The Rams improved to No. 14 in the Week 3 poll, after a 3-0 showing at the Rams Volleyball Classic, Sept. 10-11.  CSU enters action this week ranked No. 15, moving up on spot in each of the past three weeks and coming off of wins over TCU (3-2) and New Mexico (3-0) last week.  The team has now been ranked in the AVCA poll for 13 consecutive weeks, after cracking the top 25 for the final three regular-season polls of 2010 and finishing No. 17 in the season-ending poll after a postseason trip to the NCAA regional semifinals last December. 

The Rams roster
Colorado State returned a decorated roster for the 2010 season, including three players - Danielle Minch, Megan Plourde and Evan Sanders - who earned all-Mountain West honors in 2009.  Minch, a senior outside hitter, was named the 2009 MWC Player of the Year.  Head Coach Tom Hilbert is coming off of his seventh MWC Coach of the Year award.  Departed senior, Katelin Batten, also earned special recognition as the top libero in the league.  

In addition to the Rams’ returning lineup, CSU welcomes one of the top recruiting classes in the nation to Moby Arena.  The 2010 freshman class was ranked 15th nationally by PrepVolleyball.com, the highest ranking among Mountain West Conference schools.  It marked  the fifth time since 2005 that the Rams appeared on the list.  According to PrepVolleyball.com, the Rams’ incoming class of Deedra Foss, Marlee Reynolds, Katie Rutherford and Kelsey Snider, will rank as one of the most physical classes recruited by Hilbert and his staff.  In addition, the Rams have also added sophomore middle blocker Sam Peters, a product of Englewood, Colo. (Cherry Creek H.S.), who transferred to CSU after spending her freshman season at Santa Clara University. 

Key losses from 2009
Key losses for the Rams include a pair of senior starters from the 2009 squad, middle blocker Tessa Nelson and libero Katelin Batten.  Nelson ranks among the best blockers in school history and entered 2009 as the MWC’s preseason co-Player of the Year.  She closed out her career at CSU earning all-tournament honors for the NCAA Minneapolis Regional.  Batten, who rewrote CSU’s single-game, single-season and career record books for digs, had another stellar year in 2009, earning all-region and honorable mention All-America accolades.  Nelson and Batten both earned all-MWC honors as seniors.  

Returning all-region selections
Danielle Minch and Megan Plourde return to the Rams after earning American Volleyball Coaches’ Association (AVCA) all-West region honors in 2009.  Departed senior libero Katelin Batten was also selected.  By virtue of their selection to the all-region squad, the trio were also named AVCA honorable mention All-Americans.  

Hilbert reaches milestones in 2009
Head Coach Tom Hilbert eclipsed the 500-win plateau as a head coach in 2009, and enters the 2010 season with an overall record of 506-157 in 21 seasons.  His career win percentage of .763 ranks 11th nationally among NCAA DI head coaches.  Hilbert’s win percentage is even more impressive since arriving in Fort Collins, where he has amassed a record of 332-85 (.796) in 13 seasons at the helm. 

Up next
The Rams return to the court with just one road match next week when the team travels to San Diego, Calif., to take on the SDSU Aztecs at Peterson Gymnasium. 

The match will be CSU’s first road contest since the Rams beat UNLV at Cox Pavilion on Oct. 6. 

CSU’s next home matches are scheduled for Nov. 4 and Nov. 6 against UNLV and Air Force, respectively. 

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