Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, October 25
Fort Collins, Colo.
7 PM MT
Colorado State
17-6, 9-2MW
3
vs
0
San Diego State
7-17, 5-6MW
1
2
3
F
San Diego State
9
11
18
0
Colorado State
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Nick Monaghan
Rams dominate Aztecs in Thursday night sweep
10/25/2018 10:31:00 PM | Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State volleyball team won its sixth-consecutive Mountain West Conference match with a dominating sweep over San Diego State on Thursday night
Colorado State controlled the first set, holding San Diego State to a match low .000 hitting percentage. The Rams were also a perfect 10-of-10 on sideout chances, not allowing the Aztecs to score while serving.
The Rams took an early lead in the second set, and didn't look back. Colorado State registered a match-high 18 kills in the set and were led by Paulina Hougaard-Jensen who recorded seven while hitting at a blistering .875 clip.
The Aztecs looked to challenge CSU in the third set as the score was tied 7-7 before Colorado State grabbed the lead and held it, making a five-point scoring run to lead 20-13. SDSU got within three at 21-18 to force Colorado State to call a timeout before the Rams finished the match on another four-point run.
QUOTES
Head Coach Tom Hilbert's opening statement…
"If you had told me we would win and that defensively we would only have five blocks, I would have told you you're nuts; but we just didn't stuff a lot of balls tonight. In the second set, that's as good as we play – that was a great set of volleyball by us. Our service pressure was insanely good all night and we kept the errors down. I thought we had great hitting performances from everybody and felt like everybody played well. It was a great team effort and a great job by the middles especially."
Hilbert on keeping the constant pressure throughout the game…
"San Diego State was making those errors because we were serving them really tough and they were completely out of system. At that point, we wanted to keep the pressure on and not let up."
Paulina Hougaard-Jensen on teammate Sasha Colombo…
"She is awesome to play with. She always hits as hard as she can, and when she gets a kill she gets super excited. Katie (Oleksak) started out by setting Sasha behind on the outside, so the middle opened up for Kirstie Hillyer and me."
Katie Oleksak on the importance of team communication…
"It definitely makes it easier to know where they are. A lot of the communication is hearing where they are and adjusting to that. So, that's one way I can feel where Paulina (Hougaard-Jensen) is when I'm setting a slide. If they're not talking, it's really tough for me because that connection won't be there, and I think that's a little bit of what happened on San Diego State's side tonight."
STAT OF THE DAY
Kirstie Hillyer set a new career high with a .800 hitting percentage, scoring on 8-of-10 swings, while adding three blocks – one solo.
NOTES
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen led the team with 14 kills, while also hitting .700.
- Breana Runnels followed adding 10 kills and two blocks.
- Sasha Columbo posted nine kills, while also adding three digs.
-Maddi Foutz added three service aces and three digs on the night.
- Katie Oleksak paced the offense with 41 assists, while also adding three digs.
- Olivia Nicholson led the back row with nine digs, also dropping in three service aces.
- Colorado State recorded seven aces in the sweep, while posting a combined five errors in serve/receive.
- The sweep is the Rams 11th of the season, including sixth in conference and fifth in the last six matches.
- CSU finished each set against SDSU with a block.
- Colorado State's .407 hitting percentage was the highest for an opponent against the Aztecs, while SDSU's .041 was the lowest of the season.
NEXT
Colorado State will stay in Moby Arena and face MW leader Fresno State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Colorado State controlled the first set, holding San Diego State to a match low .000 hitting percentage. The Rams were also a perfect 10-of-10 on sideout chances, not allowing the Aztecs to score while serving.
The Rams took an early lead in the second set, and didn't look back. Colorado State registered a match-high 18 kills in the set and were led by Paulina Hougaard-Jensen who recorded seven while hitting at a blistering .875 clip.
The Aztecs looked to challenge CSU in the third set as the score was tied 7-7 before Colorado State grabbed the lead and held it, making a five-point scoring run to lead 20-13. SDSU got within three at 21-18 to force Colorado State to call a timeout before the Rams finished the match on another four-point run.
QUOTES
Head Coach Tom Hilbert's opening statement…
"If you had told me we would win and that defensively we would only have five blocks, I would have told you you're nuts; but we just didn't stuff a lot of balls tonight. In the second set, that's as good as we play – that was a great set of volleyball by us. Our service pressure was insanely good all night and we kept the errors down. I thought we had great hitting performances from everybody and felt like everybody played well. It was a great team effort and a great job by the middles especially."
Hilbert on keeping the constant pressure throughout the game…
"San Diego State was making those errors because we were serving them really tough and they were completely out of system. At that point, we wanted to keep the pressure on and not let up."
Paulina Hougaard-Jensen on teammate Sasha Colombo…
"She is awesome to play with. She always hits as hard as she can, and when she gets a kill she gets super excited. Katie (Oleksak) started out by setting Sasha behind on the outside, so the middle opened up for Kirstie Hillyer and me."
Katie Oleksak on the importance of team communication…
"It definitely makes it easier to know where they are. A lot of the communication is hearing where they are and adjusting to that. So, that's one way I can feel where Paulina (Hougaard-Jensen) is when I'm setting a slide. If they're not talking, it's really tough for me because that connection won't be there, and I think that's a little bit of what happened on San Diego State's side tonight."
STAT OF THE DAY
Kirstie Hillyer set a new career high with a .800 hitting percentage, scoring on 8-of-10 swings, while adding three blocks – one solo.
NOTES
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen led the team with 14 kills, while also hitting .700.
- Breana Runnels followed adding 10 kills and two blocks.
- Sasha Columbo posted nine kills, while also adding three digs.
-Maddi Foutz added three service aces and three digs on the night.
- Katie Oleksak paced the offense with 41 assists, while also adding three digs.
- Olivia Nicholson led the back row with nine digs, also dropping in three service aces.
- Colorado State recorded seven aces in the sweep, while posting a combined five errors in serve/receive.
- The sweep is the Rams 11th of the season, including sixth in conference and fifth in the last six matches.
- CSU finished each set against SDSU with a block.
- Colorado State's .407 hitting percentage was the highest for an opponent against the Aztecs, while SDSU's .041 was the lowest of the season.
NEXT
Colorado State will stay in Moby Arena and face MW leader Fresno State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
#PointRams
Team Stats
SDSU
CSU
Kills
21
44
Errors
18
11
Attempts
73
81
Hitting %
.041
.407
Points
25.0
56.0
Assists
19
42
Aces
1
7
Blocks
3.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
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