Match notes: No. 18 Rams face Bears, Aztecs this week

Sept. 27, 2010

• 2010 Media Guide
• Schedule/Results
• Season Statistics
• Buy Tickets

Match 14 | at Northern Colorado
Sept. 28, 2010 | Greeley, Colo. | Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion (2,734)
• Live Stats:  Click Here
• Streaming Audio:  Click Here
• Television: None

Match 15 | San Diego State
Sept. 30, 2010 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745)
• Live Stats:  Click Here
• Streaming Audio:  Click Here
• Television: None

Rams open conference on the road
The Colorado State volleyball team continues a three-match road swing, with a non-conference contest against in-state rival Northern Colorado on Tuesday evening in Greeley, Colo.

The matchup between the Rams (11-2, 2-0 MWC) and the Bears (11-3, 3-0 Big Sky) is CSU’s third match in five days, and the third in a four-match stretch in a week. 

Colorado State closes that stretch at home, returning to MWC play against the San Diego State Aztecs (7-7, 2-0 MWC) on Thursday.

The Rams and Bears are set to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening from UNC’s Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.  Thurday’s match at Moby Arena is also scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
 
Rams on the radio
All home matches and select road contests, 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 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, 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 Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado enters Tuesday’s matchup with an impressive record of 11-3 overall, and the Bears are off to a 3-0 start in the Big Sky Conference.  UNC, which finished 21-12 and appeared in the NCAA tournament last year at Moby Arena, has won three straight and 12 of its last 13 matches.  Head coach Lyndsey Benson is 86-77 in her sixth season at the helm of the UNC program.  Colorado State holds a 13-6 advantage in the overall series between the two schools, including eight consecutive victories over the Bears dating back to the 1982 season. 

About San Diego State
The Aztecs come to Moby Arena tied with Colorado State atop the Mountain West Conference standings after posting conference victories over New Mexico (3-0) and TCU (3-2) at home.  Overall, the Aztecs are 7-7 on the season, having lost three matches to AVCA ranked opponents at Hawaii (No. 6 on Sept. 9), and home vs. San Diego (No. 23 on Sept. 17) and Minnesota (No. 12 on Sept. 18).  The Aztecs opened the season 5-1 before the loss at Hawaii began a six-game skid that was snapped by last week’s sweep of the Lobos.  Head Coach Deitre Collins-Parker is 21-22 in her second season at SDSU.  Colorado State owns a 27-14 advantage in the all-time series with SDSU, and the Rams have won 16 consecutive matches vs. the Aztecs heading into Thursday. 

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 142-24 (.855) in Mountain West Conference matches, including an impressive 76-6 (.927) mark at Moby Arena vs. the MWC, and a 66-18 (.786) 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 on Friday, 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. 

Streaking at home
Colorado State enters Thursday’s MWC home opener vs. San Diego State riding a 24-match winning streak at Moby Arena against league foes.  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.       

Plourde named MWC Co-Player of the Week
Sophomore MB Megan Plourde was recognized Monday 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. 

Out with the old, in with the new
Thursday’s home match vs. San Diego State will be the final event at Moby Arena before CSU’s new state-of-the-art video board is unveiled Oct. 14 when the Rams host 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, will replace the old system which was installed in 1995. 

To mark the unveiling of the new board, CSU athletics is offering $2 tickets to the Oct. 14 match vs. TCU, which will also be televised live on The Mtn.     

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 7-1 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. 7 nationally in attendance, averaging 2,547 fans per match through the team’s first six 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. 18 in the nation for the second straight week, and has now been ranked in the AVCA poll for 10 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 a 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
Colorado State heads back out on the road, travelling to face MWC foes Air Force and UNLV.  The Rams and Falcons meet Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at AFA’s Falcon Court.  CSU then heads to Las Vegas Oct. 9 for a showdown with the Rebels at Cox Pavilion.  That match is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT. 

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