Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, September 8
Fort Collins, Colo.
6 PM MT
Colorado State
7-1
3
vs
0
Michigan
6-2
1
2
3
F
Michigan
21
22
18
0
Colorado State
25
25
25
3
Team Stats
MICH
CSU
Kills
43
48
Errors
18
8
Attempts
107
101
Hitting %
.234
.396
Points
51.0
55.0
Assists
41
46
Aces
4
3
Blocks
4.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OH/OPP
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballRecap: Colorado State Sweeps Past No. 16 Michigan Friday Night
9/8/2017 11:57:00 PM | Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – No. 25 Colorado State swept passed No.16 Michigan Friday night, marking the second time the Rams have swept a Top-25 team in the last six days. The Rams have won the last seven straight matches and on Friday night finished hitting at a .396 clip against a Wolverine defense that entered the weekend holding their opponents to under .200.
The last time the Rams defeated two ranked teams in a season was back in 2014 when Colorado State beat both No. 18 Arizona State and No. 19 Colorado. Before this season, the last time CSU had swept a ranked opponent was 2012 when the Rams defeated No. 12 Pepperdine. This is the first time the Rams swept two ranked opponents in a season since the 2008 when they defeated No. 8 Florida and No. 24 BYU in straight sets.
The Rams came out Friday night and were ready to play, as they never trailed in the first set. CSU won the first six points of the frame and did not look back. Michigan tried to tighten the match before the media timeout, getting within a point, but CSU scored the next three points to build a five point lead. The Rams went on to finish the set with 17 kills and an attack percentage of .394.
In the second frame, Michigan built a 4-1 lead, but the Rams came charging back with six-straight points to take 7-4 advantage and forced U-M to take a timeout. Colorado State went on to build a five-point lead, but Michigan kept it close tying the match at 15-all. The Rams never trailed the rest of the frame as they gained a 2-0 match lead with a 25-22 finish in set two.
In the final game, the Rams stifled the Wolverines offense forcing seven errors and kept them to a .184 hitting percentage – a match low. Colorado State took the lead early and never surrendered it, finishing the match hitting .500 with no errors.
Three Rams tallied double-digit kills, led by Sanja Cizmic with 13 and hitting a season-high .550. Breana Runnels and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen both added 12 and 11 kills, respectfully. Hougaard-Jensen also finished hitting .611 with no errors. Katie Oleksak paced the offense with 42 assists, while Amanda Young recorded 14 digs.
Colorado State will close the CSU Tournament on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 12 p.m., against Idaho State.
IN THEIR WORDS
Tom Hilbert on defeating No. 16 Michigan…
"That was a fantastic job by my team. I think we played with really great maturity, very similar to how we played against (then No. 15) Florida State and I think these guys are stepping up in those situations. I thought that Katie (Oleksak) did a great job in the distribution the ball with what we were trying to do offensively. I thought that when we pasted the ball well, we really got a good first swing. It was a really fun a really fun volleyball match and our team played exceptionally well."
Sanja Cizmic on why the Rams seem to play better against tougher opponents…
"I think we just went into a similar mentality that we had for Florida State. We know we should not look at the score and just play the match point by point. In the third set, they would get a kill but we were not worried because we got ourselves into a nice lead."
Paulina Hougaard-Jensen on if anything was said amongst the team after the noon game against Ball State…
"I think we just knew we had to play better and we had to step it up and figure it out."
Tom Hilbert on playing in Moby Arena…
"I talk to these guys a lot about this and I said it today between games two and three. We came in, win the set and we have a huge crowd all wearing orange. It is fun to be a Ram volleyball player. The fact that we have 60 former volleyball players here to support us show that it is fun to be a Ram volleyball player. There are great memories here, this place is a wonderful venue and this is a great weekend to celebrate that. I feel really proud that we were able to win that match in front of those people who get to revisit their own memories."
The last time the Rams defeated two ranked teams in a season was back in 2014 when Colorado State beat both No. 18 Arizona State and No. 19 Colorado. Before this season, the last time CSU had swept a ranked opponent was 2012 when the Rams defeated No. 12 Pepperdine. This is the first time the Rams swept two ranked opponents in a season since the 2008 when they defeated No. 8 Florida and No. 24 BYU in straight sets.
The Rams came out Friday night and were ready to play, as they never trailed in the first set. CSU won the first six points of the frame and did not look back. Michigan tried to tighten the match before the media timeout, getting within a point, but CSU scored the next three points to build a five point lead. The Rams went on to finish the set with 17 kills and an attack percentage of .394.
In the second frame, Michigan built a 4-1 lead, but the Rams came charging back with six-straight points to take 7-4 advantage and forced U-M to take a timeout. Colorado State went on to build a five-point lead, but Michigan kept it close tying the match at 15-all. The Rams never trailed the rest of the frame as they gained a 2-0 match lead with a 25-22 finish in set two.
In the final game, the Rams stifled the Wolverines offense forcing seven errors and kept them to a .184 hitting percentage – a match low. Colorado State took the lead early and never surrendered it, finishing the match hitting .500 with no errors.
Three Rams tallied double-digit kills, led by Sanja Cizmic with 13 and hitting a season-high .550. Breana Runnels and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen both added 12 and 11 kills, respectfully. Hougaard-Jensen also finished hitting .611 with no errors. Katie Oleksak paced the offense with 42 assists, while Amanda Young recorded 14 digs.
Colorado State will close the CSU Tournament on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 12 p.m., against Idaho State.
IN THEIR WORDS
Tom Hilbert on defeating No. 16 Michigan…
"That was a fantastic job by my team. I think we played with really great maturity, very similar to how we played against (then No. 15) Florida State and I think these guys are stepping up in those situations. I thought that Katie (Oleksak) did a great job in the distribution the ball with what we were trying to do offensively. I thought that when we pasted the ball well, we really got a good first swing. It was a really fun a really fun volleyball match and our team played exceptionally well."
Sanja Cizmic on why the Rams seem to play better against tougher opponents…
"I think we just went into a similar mentality that we had for Florida State. We know we should not look at the score and just play the match point by point. In the third set, they would get a kill but we were not worried because we got ourselves into a nice lead."
Paulina Hougaard-Jensen on if anything was said amongst the team after the noon game against Ball State…
"I think we just knew we had to play better and we had to step it up and figure it out."
Tom Hilbert on playing in Moby Arena…
"I talk to these guys a lot about this and I said it today between games two and three. We came in, win the set and we have a huge crowd all wearing orange. It is fun to be a Ram volleyball player. The fact that we have 60 former volleyball players here to support us show that it is fun to be a Ram volleyball player. There are great memories here, this place is a wonderful venue and this is a great weekend to celebrate that. I feel really proud that we were able to win that match in front of those people who get to revisit their own memories."
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