Match notes: Rams postseason run begins Friday

Dec. 2, 2010

• 2010 Media Guide
• Schedule/Results
• Season Statistics

2010 NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds
Dec. 3-4, 2010 | Stanford, Calif. | Maples Pavilion (7,223)
Round 1: 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. MT
Round 2: 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT
  • Interactive Bracket
  • Printable Bracket
  • Broadcast Information

Rams postseason run begins Friday
The Colorado State volleyball team (25-4) makes its 16th consecutive trip, and the program’s 22nd overall appearance, in the NCAA tournament, heading to Stanford, Calif., for the first and second rounds this Friday and Saturday. 

The Rams, automatic qualifiers as regular-season champions of the Mountain West Conference, are slated to take on the West Coast Conference champion Cal State Fullerton Titans (26-5).  First serve between the Rams and the Titans is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. MT. 

Host and No. 3-seeded Stanford (24-3), an at-large qualifier from the Pac-10, takes on Albany (22-8), the America East champs, in the other first-round match at the Cardinal’s Maples Pavilion, Friday at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT.     

The winners of each match will then meet at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT on Saturday for the chance to advance to the Dayton Regional, Dec. 10-11. 

Follow the Rams throughout the postseason
Colorado State’s postseason matches will be broadcast live in the Fort Collins area on KCSU 90.5 FM.  Andy Boshoven 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.  Streaming audio will be offered free of charge throughout the postseason.   

Streaming video is also available for all NCAA tournament matches.  Fans can access the live feeds for each region by using the interactive bracket at NCAA.com. 

Fans can also track the action live via Gametracker live statistics.  Links to live stats feeds can also be found using the interactive bracket on NCAA.com.  

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.     

Against the elite
Colorado State played six matches this season against opponents that qualified for the 2010 NCAA tournament, finishing with a record of 3-3 in those matches.  In non-conference action, the Rams defeated Duke and Albany, but dropped matches against No. 1 overall seed Florida and Long Beach State.  The Rams also split the season series against MWC foe New Mexico.  The following is a complete listing of CSU’s 2010 matches vs. programs that made the NCAA tournament.

Rams in the NCAA tournament
The 2010 season marks the 22nd overall appearance in the NCAA volleyball tournament for Colorado State.  The Rams are 20-21 all-time in NCAA tournament matches.  CSU has made the tournament field in 16 consecutive seasons and enters the 2010 tournament with a 16-15 record during that stretch.  In 13 previous appearances under Head Coach Tom Hilbert, the Rams are 15-13. 

Rams advancing in the bracket
The Rams enter their first-round matchup with Cal State Fullerton looking to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season.  The Rams have advanced to Round 2 15 times in 21 previous NCAA tournaments, including 10 of 13 appearances under Head Coach Tom Hilbert.

NCAA tourney record by round
Colorado State has made a habit of advancing past the first round of the NCAA tournament, posting an all-time record of 15-6 in opening-round matches.  The Rams, however, are just 5-10 in second-round matchups.  No Colorado State team has advanced past the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Mountain West Champions
The Rams posted a record of 14-2 in the Mountain West Conference in 2010, winning the program’s 15th overall conference championship.  In the 12-year history of the Mountain West Conference, the Rams have now won eight regular-season championships, to go along with four tournament championships, between 1999 and 2007 when the tournament was discontinued.  Additionally, the Rams have won conference championships as members of the Western Athletic Conference (Mountain Division, 1998) and High Country Athletic Conference (1984 and 1985). 

All-MWC selections
Mountain West all-conference volleyball awards, as selected by the league’s nine head coaches, were announced Nov. 29, with three Rams earning recognition, including senior OH Danielle Minch who garnered back-to-back MWC Player of the Year honors.  She is joined by teammates Megan Plourde and Evan Sanders on the 15-player list.  All three Rams are repeat honorees, each having earned all-MWC honors in 2009.  

Minch, a senior outside hitter, garnered her second consecutive Player of the Year award, becoming the fourth player in conference history, and third from CSU, to repeat as the top player as voted by the league’s nine head coaches.  Melissa Courtney (2003 and 2004) and Angela Knopf (2000 and 2001) each took home Player of the Year hardware twice in their CSU careers, while Utah’s Kim Turner did so in 2002 and 2003.

Colorado State players have now captured seven of 12 MWC Player of the Year honors awarded since the formation of the league in 1999.  Mekana Barnes was named MWC Player of the Year in 2007.

A native of Sterling, Colo., Minch led the Rams to their eighth Mountain West Conference title and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, the program’s 16th consecutive appearance.  She finished the regular season leading the league in points per set (4.58) and was third in the league in kills per set in conference matches (3.73). Minch also ranks fourth in the MWC in kills (3.40) and second in points per set (4.15) in overall matches. Minch has tallied double-digit kills in 21 matches this season, and joined an elite club by eclipsing 1,000 career kills during the 2010 campaign.

Sanders, a junior setter from Lafayette, Colo., led the Mountain West in overall assists this season, averaging 10.65 per set, while her average of 10.91 assists per set in league play was second only to MWC Setter of the Year Jade Michaelsen (New Mexico).

Plourde, a sophomore middle blocker from Somerset, Wis., followed a stellar redshirt sophomore season with her second consecutive all-MWC honor.  She led the conference in blocks per set (1.54) and hitting percentage (.364), ranking fourth and 38th in the nation, respectively.  In conference play, she ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.350) and first in blocking (1.54 per set), while her blocking average is currently sixth on the Rams’ single-season charts.

About Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Fullerton earned a bid to the 2010 NCAA tournament, the first in program history, after claiming the Big West Championship.  The Titans closed the regular season with an overall record of 26-5, and they enter Friday’s first-round matchup against CSU on a school-record nine-match winning streak.  They are currently tied for 24th in the AVCA top-25 coaches’ poll. 

Outside hitter Erin Saddler was named the Big West Conference Player of the Year. Saddler recorded 468 kills, 4.37 per set, during the regular season to rank second in the league and 17th nationally. 

Head Coach Carolyn Zimmerman earned Big West Coach of the Year after guiding the Titans to a record-breaking season that has seen them win their first league title, earn their first postseason appearance, and ascend into the national top 25 for the first time in school history. She has also helped the Titans to school-records with 26 overall victories and 14 conference victories. 

The Rams and Titans have split four previous meetings, but the two programs have not met since 1991. 

About Stanford
Host Stanford enters the tournament as the No. 3 overall seed in the 2010 NCAA tournament, and faces Albany Friday evening in the first round.  The Cardinal, a perennial national power, earned an at-large bid after tying for the Pac-10 conference championship.  The team enters postseason play with an overall record of 24-3.  Stanford is one of only two teams to have made an appearance in all 30 NCAA tournaments, and the Cardinal look to add to their NCAA record seven volleyball nation titles. 

Stanford leads the nation with a .320 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Alix Klineman is averaging 5.49 kills, which is the second-best average in the nation The setting duties for the Cardinal have been split between Cassidy Lichtman and Karissa Cook, who have led the team to the top assists average in the country at 14.41 per set.
 
Head Coach John Dunning is currently in his tenth season with Stanford, and holds an impressive record of 286-48. Under Dunning, The Cardinal has reached six of the last nine NCAA title matches and won two national championships.

The Rams have faced Stanford 10 times, with the Cardinal winning each of the previous meetings.  The last meeting came in 2003.  The Rams have been traveled to Stanford four times - 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1996 - in postseason play. 

About Albany
Albany comes into the 2010 NCAA tournament as the automatic qualifier from the America East Conference.  The Great Danes posted a record of 22-8 during the regular season, which included a 3-0 loss to Colorado State in September at Florida’s Campus USA Credit Union Invitational. 

Albany is led by senior Teresa Coppiellie, who was named the 2010 America East Conference Player of the Year. Coppiellie averages 3.44 kills per set along with 3.32 digs per set. Libero Laurie Gonzalez claimed her third straight defensive specialist of the year honor, after leading the conference and being ranked among the national leaders, averaging 5.20 digs per set.

The winner of the UAlbany-Stanford match-up will advance to face either Cal State Fullerton or Colorado State in the second round.

The meeting in September marked the first in the series between the Rams and the Great Danes. 

Block party
Colorado State closed the 2010 regular season ranked second nationally blocks per set, averaging 3.04 blocks per set as a team.  The Rams are led by sophomore middle blocker Megan Plourde, who ranks first in the MWC and fourth nationally averaging 1.54 blocks per set.   

20 wins for the Rams
The Rams’ sweep of San Diego State on Oct. 30 marked the team’s 20th victory of the season. Colorado State has recorded at least 20 wins in 16 consecutive seasons, and has made the NCAA tournament field each year since the streak began.

Hilbert sets all-time mark
With the Rams’ win Nov. 4 over the UNLV Rebels at Moby Arena, Head Coach Tom Hilbert earned his 353rd career victory as the head coach of the Colorado State volleyball program.  The win moved Hilbert ahead of legendary basketball coach Jim Williams to become the winningest coach in CSU history. 

Williams led CSU’s men’s basketball team during its most prosperous era, in which he posted a career record of 352-293 in 26 seasons. 

It marks the third major milestone in as many years for Hilbert, who surpassed Rich Feller as CSU volleyball’s all-time wins leader in 2008 and last season recorded his 500th-career victory in just his 21st year overall as a head coach.  Hilbert enters play this week with a record of 356-88 in his 14th season in Fort Collins.  His career record now stands at 530-160 in 22 seasons.

Hilbert entered the 2010 season ranked 11th on the NCAA’s active coaching list with a career winning percentage of .763.

On a hot streak
The 2010 CSU Rams finished the regular season with one of the most impressive records in school history, thanks in part to a 13-match winning streak that spanned nearly seven weeks from Sept. 24-Nov. 11.  The streak tied for the fifth longest in program history.  It marked the fourth time in the last five seasons that CSU had put together a winning streak of at least 10 matches, and the 11th time under Head Coach Tom Hilbert. The Rams’ longest winning streak under Hilbert was a 23-match stretch between Sept. 20 and Dec. 6, 2003, which carried CSU all the way to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. 

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 Oct. 18.  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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.  Following early November wins over Air Force and UNLV the Rams peaked at No. 13.  CSU enters postseason play ranked 17th in the country.  The team has now been ranked for 19 consecutive weeks, after cracking the top 25 for the final three regular-season polls of 2009 and finishing No. 17 in the season-ending poll after a postseason trip to the NCAA regional semifinals last December. 

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results