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14-6, 8-1MW
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Recap: Rams rebound with sweep at Fresno State
10/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
FRESNO, Calif. - The Colorado State Rams rebounded from their loss on Thursday night to sweep the Fresno State Bulldogs at the Save Mart Center on Saturday afternoon.
CSU (14-6, 8-1 MW) regained sole possession of first place in the Mountain West with the win and UNLV's loss at Boise State earlier in the day.
CSU jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set, following 4 kills by Sanja Cizmic and a pair of early blocks. The Bulldogs and Rams then parried back and forth, until the home side went on a run to tie the match at 16-16. CSU called timeout after the Bulldogs tied with an ace, and the regrouped Rams rallied to finish the set on a 9-4 run to win, 25-20. Cizmic finished the frame with 7 kills.
The Rams scored the first three points of the second set, and were playing well all around to open the frame. McKenna Thornlow and Cassidy Denny each sprawled out for digs, later leading to a quick set by Katie Oleksak to Alexandra Poletto for a kill to go up 9-6. The Rams' lead grew to four, by then the Bulldogs' rally was on. Fresno State ultimately took its first lead of the day at 16-15, but CSU rebounded following a pair of Bulldogs attack errors. The Rams would not trail again, and Cizmic's 10th and 11th kills of the day clinched the 25-23 victory in Set 2.
CSU again came out and controlled the beginning of the third set, taking a six-point lead at 11-5 following a combo block by Poletto and Oleksak. Fresno State, trying to avoid the sweep, climbed back to within one point on three occasions after that, but could never tie the score. Cizmic displayed her dominance again to seal the win for CSU, providing a solo block and the final kill as the Rams earned the sweep with a 25-22 third set win.
STAT OF THE DAY…
12 - Sanja Cizmic led the team with 12 kills, and got the set-clinching kill in all three sets.
NOTES…
• Sanja Cizmic finished the day with a team-leading 12 kills to go along with a pair of blocks (one solo) and 5 digs. Cizmic also got the final point for CSU in all three sets (all kills).
• Kirstie Hillyer made her first start at the right side attacker spot, lining up next to Alexandra Poletto at middle blocker. The duo is 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-4 respectively. Poletto finished the match with a team-high 4 blocks.
• Poletto also added 10 kills on .412 hitting. Fellow starting middle, Paulina Hougaard-Jensen, produced 8 kills on .333 hitting.
• Four Rams had at least 5 digs, led by 13 by Cassidy Denny. Katie Oleksak (7), Cizmic and McKenna Thornlow (5) also had 5-plus.
• Oleksak had 35 assists to go along with 7 digs and 2 kills.
NEXT…
The Rams will head to Laramie, Wyoming for a rivalry matchup with Wyoming on Tuesday. CSU will return home to host Utah State next Saturday, Oct. 29 at Moby Arena.