Volleyball recap: Rams defeat Gauchos in straight sets

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Sep 11

6:00 PM

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6:00 PM

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12:00 PM

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vs Notre Dame v. East Texas A&M

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at Colorado

Aug. 30, 2014

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery | Quotes | Notes
Rams Volleyball Classic Tournament Central

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – More than 2,700 fans packed Moby Arena on Saturday night as the No. 18 Colorado State volleyball team defeated UC Santa Barbara (receiving votes) in straight sets – 25-23, 25-18, 25-16. The win was the Rams’ second of the day, putting them in line for the Rams Volleyball Classic championship match Sunday vs. Marquette.

The Rams (2-0, 0-0 MW) and Gauchos (0-2, 0-0 Big West) were locked in a back-and-forth affair early on, with the opening set featuring 12 ties and five lead changes. With the score knotted at 20-20, CSU secured consecutive points to take its first multi-point lead of the match.

Kelsey Snider shut the door several plays later, giving the Rams the Set-1 advantage after a 25-23 victory.

“That’s your typical deal where it’s your first weekend,” Head Coach Tom Hilbert said. “We watched them play earlier, and Marquette disrupted them so much with jump serving that they weren’t able to do some things offensively, but they did against us. They were much better than I thought they would be in terms of the fast stuff, and they got a lot by us.”

Snider recorded six of her match-most 13 kills in the opening frame. On the night, she hit .722 with zero errors, the second-best hitting efficiency of her career.

“Tom said we had an athletic advantage, so I knew if I just went fast and high that I would beat them.”

Snider not only attacked well, but she also blocked. The senior from Westminster, Colo., had five blocks, leading the Rams who had 13 total stuffs on the night.

“Tonight, they (UCSB) were more in system than they were this afternoon,” Hilbert said. “That put more pressure on Luke (Murray, assistant coach) on making certain calls and options, and he did a nice job with it.”

Seven different Rams had multiple blocks in the win, as CSU out-blocked UCSB, 13.0-4.0.

After a tight first set, the Rams cruised through the next two. The two teams were tied at 1-1 in Set 2, but it would be the last time the Gauchos would break even. CSU jumped out to a 7-1 early lead in the third set, and led by as many as nine.

Junior libero Jaime Colaizzi had 15 digs, the 30th double-digit dig match of her career. Freshman outside hitter Jasmine Hanna earned her first collegiate start, finishing the night with six kills and three blocks.

All-time under Hilbert, CSU is 71-13 in regular-season home tournaments. The Rams look to win their seventh consecutive home tourney on Sunday with a win over Marquette.

“I think Marquette’s good,” Hilbert said. “I think that the match tomorrow will be really difficult. They play sound in every area and they are more athletic than both the teams we played today.”

Like CSU, Marquette beat UCSB and VCU in straight sets Saturday.

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