Colorado State University Athletics
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Volleyball recap: No. 15 CSU sweeps Texas Tech
9/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2010
By Kaitlyn Comiskey
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The No. 15 Rams made a quick recovery from their loss to No. 4 Florida last weekend, defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders Friday night in Moby Arena, 3-0.
The match was the first of three matches that CSU will play in the Rams Volleyball Classic presented by Poudre Valley Health System.
CSU’s Friday night win improved its record to 6-1, and moved Texas Tech to 2-5.
Both of the Rams’ middle blockers put up big numbers for the team in the first set. Sophomore Megan Plourde put down two kills early on, as well as a sharp-cross slide later on in the match, finishing Set 1 with four kills and hitting .800. Plourde also had three block assists, including a big triple block with teammates Jacque Davisson and Evan Sanders to set the score at 16-11.
“Megan is really improved at hitting behind the setter,” commented Head Coach Tom Hilbert. “It’s become quite a weapon for us.”
The Rams’ other middle blocker, Brieon Paige, contributed three more kills, hitting .600. Paige put down the winning point in Set 1 to give the Rams a 25-15 victory.
By the end of the second set, CSU had already accumulated 14 block assists, holding Texas Tech to a hitting percentage of a mere .041 .Two of the Rams, Plourde and junior Katelyn Steffan, hit .600 or better, helping CSU to an impressive hitting percentage of .345 in the second set. Steffan had three kills for the Rams in Set 2, one being a hard-hit quick, giving CSU match point. Set 2 ended with a score of 25-16.
Even more formidable defense from the Rams helped the team take a hard-fought Set 3 from the Red Raiders. CSU ended the match with 26 block assists, and 14.0 total team blocks. Sophomore Dana Cranston led the team with nine digs, while Danielle Minch led the Rams’ offense, totaling 12 kills on the match and hitting .435. Plourde totaled 10 kills and nine block assists by the end of the match.
“We blocked the ball exceptionally well today,” said Hilbert. “These guys were on task, they knew what Texas Tech was doing and they had a lot of good blocking plays in this game. I think it really frustrated Texas Tech and created some hitting errors.”
Midway through the final set, Texas Tech had taken a small lead on CSU, but a second-ball attack from Sanders spurred a three-point run for the Rams, giving them a 19-17 advantage. Toward the end of the set Tech was still fighting, after a line shot put the Raiders within a point of CSU, 23-22. But a big block from Plourde and Sanders gave CSU match point, allowing Minch to score the game winning kill, tooling hard off of the Raiders’ block and sending the ball out of bounds past the end line.
“If you look at the maturity of the hitting tonight, I would take this game any day of the week,” added Hilbert. “We had three unforced errors from an attacking standpoint. That’s unbelievable. I’d take that any day.”
The first match of the Rams Volleyball Classic was at 4:30 p.m. Friday, when Illinois State took on Northeastern University. ISU swept Northeastern in three sets.
Colorado State takes on Northeastern on Saturday at 12 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. matchup against Illinois State. As a Sept. 11 gesture of appreciation to service men and women from all branches of the military, as well as members of the police, fire and EMT services, Colorado State athletics is offering $1 tickets (with a special voucher) for the Rams' matches on Saturday.
The vouchers, which were distributed to local service branches, can be used at either the 12 p.m. match vs. Northeastern or the 7 p.m. match vs. Illinois State. Any local service men or women who would need a voucher should contact the CSU athletic marketing office at 970/491-2063.
The event was scheduled in remembrance of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
