Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
11-1 (0-0MW)
Pepperdine
5-6 (0-0WCC)
Volleyball recap: Rams ride Waves to 3-set win
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Residence Inn Invitational Match Notes
TEMPE, Ariz. – Following a win over a nationally ranked Arizona State Friday night, No. 8 Colorado State was back in the gym 11 hours later to take on Pepperdine. The Rams rolled past the Waves in three sets (25-13, 25-23, 25-20) to improve to 11-1 on the season.
CSU out-hit Pepperdine, .333 to .122, and out-blocked the Waves, 12.0 to 2.0, but the biggest difference was the Rams’ ability to come from behind in sets 2 and 3.
“We played well,” Head Coach Tom Hilbert said. “I was really happy with the competitiveness, especially coming from behind in the second and third sets.”
Senior outside hitter Marlee Reynolds had nine kills and six other CSU players had at least two, including freshman outside hitter Jasmine Hanna, who had eight kills on .444 efficiency. Six Rams players had a solo block in the win, led by four total stuffs from freshman Alexandra Poletto.
“Alexandra played only about 30 percent of the match, so for her to get the blocks she did is really good,” Hilbert said. “She also hit 1.000 (2-0-2).”
The two teams alternated points to begin the match before CSU took its first multi-point lead at 5-3. From there, the Rams would use a pair of 4-0 runs to take control of the set – the second bringing the score to 16-7. For the second-straight match, CSU did not make an attack error in the opening frame, recording 14 kills and zero errors on 31 swings (.452). The Rams’ first swinging mistake came midway through Set 2, on the team’s 40th attack of the day.
CSU staked out to an 8-2 lead, forcing a Pepperdine timeout early in Set 2, but the Waves (5-6, 0-0 WCC) responded with 14 of 19 points – including a 5-0 run – to take a three-point lead. Trailing 18-15, CSU claimed four straight, capped with a Cassidy Denny ace, to regain the lead for good, 19-18.
Pepperdine jumped out to a 13-7 lead in Set 3 – hitting .462 at the time – but the Rams showed their tenacity, fighting back to bring the score to 13-11, and following a pair of Waves points, used a 7-1 run to take an 18-16 advantage, its first lead since 1-0.
Clinging to a 21-20 lead, CSU closed the set on a 4-0 run to win the match. After beginning the set strong offensively, Pepperdine hit .060 in the frame thanks in large part to seven CSU blocks.
“We out-blocked them 12 to 2, and were very low error in attacking,” Hilbert said. “The sets were pretty close because we weren’t killing balls, but we controlled most of the match because we were playing very cleanly."
With the sweep, CSU improved to 7-6 all-time against Pepperdine. The two teams have played eight times in the past 11 seasons, with CSU winning the last three contests.
CSU will play for the Residence Inn Invitational championship tonight at 6 p.m. MT vs. North Carolina Central. The Eagles are winless entering their afternoon contest vs. No. 18 Arizona State. The match will be CSU’s final non-conference match of the season.
