Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, November 17
Fort Collins, Colo.
7 PM MT
Colorado State
23-7, 15-3MW
2
vs
3
New Mexico
15-15, 9-9MW
1
2
3
4
5
F
New Mexico
25
25
22
17
16
3
Colorado State
22
22
25
25
14
2
Photo by: Nick Monaghan
Rams fall in final home match, end streaks
11/17/2018 10:49:00 PM | Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – In the final home match of the regular season, Colorado State volleyball was capped by New Mexico in a five-set thriller on Saturday night in front of 2,556 cheering fans. The loss snapped the Rams' 12-match win streak and 45-match Mountain West home win streak dating back to the 2013 season.
Colorado State dropped the first two sets to find themselves in a rare position, down 2-0 at intermission. But the Rams responded taking the next two frames to even the match at 2-2 and force a fifth set. The final set was a perfect picture of the match as neither team led by more than two. CSU trailed by one at 10-9, but rattled off three points, two via a block, to take a 12-10 lead. Following a New Mexico timeout, the Lobos evened the score at 12-all. From there, the Rams used a timeout and reached match-point at 14-13, but New Mexico shutdown Colorado State, scoring the final three points of the match.
The Rams finish the regular season 23-7 and 15-13 in the Mountain West.
QUOTES
Coach Tom Hilbert's opening statement…
"We just regressed back into some behaviors we were doing earlier in the season. We missed a lot of serves and New Mexico didn't. That really was the difference in the match. They had six aces and six errors, we had six aces and sixteen errors. That's a ten-point difference, and that's the difference in the match. We outhit them, we had way more kills than they did, but we also had a lot of unforced errors, which hurt us. I felt like our hitters were a little impatient at times in taking swings at balls. We made some nice adjustments, played better defense after those first two sets, but then came down to the fifth. In fifth sets, anyone can win…It's a disappointing loss, but we have a lot to be proud of this year. These are wonderful young women I'm working with every day. We have several days off now and then we'll play in the NCAA Tournament and I think we'll do very well. These things you have to brush off and try to learn from them and recognize that we are very good and that we will get back into a rhythm and do the things we do well."
STAT OF THE DAY
Breana Runnels set a career-high 23 kills (the most this season by a Ram) and in the process became the all-time season kill record holder in modern scoring as she finished the regular season with 433 kills.
NOTES
- The Rams finish the season ranked No. 8 in the nation in attendance.
- CSU played a fifth-set conference match at home for the first time since playing the Border War in 2016.
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen, Kirstie Hillyer and Jessica Jackson all reached double figure kills.
- Katie Oleksak recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 50 assists and 11 digs.
- Breana Runnels also had a double-double – her seventh of the season – with 23 kills and 10 digs.
- Olivia Nicholson led the back row with 15 digs, while Maddi Foutz added 13.
- CSU had 64 kills in the match to New Mexico's 48.
- Both middles, Hougaard-Jensen and Hillyer, led CSU with eight and seven blocks, respectfully.
- The Rams struggled from the serve line, recorded 16 errors – the most since playing at San Diego State this season.
- The last time the Rams lost their final match of the season, they reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
NEXT
Colorado State will make its 30th postseason appearance – 24th consecutive – and will know its destination on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. MT with the NCAA Volleyball Tournament selection show on ESPNU. The Rams will have a watch party at the Mayor of Old Town in Fort Collins.
Colorado State dropped the first two sets to find themselves in a rare position, down 2-0 at intermission. But the Rams responded taking the next two frames to even the match at 2-2 and force a fifth set. The final set was a perfect picture of the match as neither team led by more than two. CSU trailed by one at 10-9, but rattled off three points, two via a block, to take a 12-10 lead. Following a New Mexico timeout, the Lobos evened the score at 12-all. From there, the Rams used a timeout and reached match-point at 14-13, but New Mexico shutdown Colorado State, scoring the final three points of the match.
The Rams finish the regular season 23-7 and 15-13 in the Mountain West.
QUOTES
Coach Tom Hilbert's opening statement…
"We just regressed back into some behaviors we were doing earlier in the season. We missed a lot of serves and New Mexico didn't. That really was the difference in the match. They had six aces and six errors, we had six aces and sixteen errors. That's a ten-point difference, and that's the difference in the match. We outhit them, we had way more kills than they did, but we also had a lot of unforced errors, which hurt us. I felt like our hitters were a little impatient at times in taking swings at balls. We made some nice adjustments, played better defense after those first two sets, but then came down to the fifth. In fifth sets, anyone can win…It's a disappointing loss, but we have a lot to be proud of this year. These are wonderful young women I'm working with every day. We have several days off now and then we'll play in the NCAA Tournament and I think we'll do very well. These things you have to brush off and try to learn from them and recognize that we are very good and that we will get back into a rhythm and do the things we do well."
STAT OF THE DAY
Breana Runnels set a career-high 23 kills (the most this season by a Ram) and in the process became the all-time season kill record holder in modern scoring as she finished the regular season with 433 kills.
NOTES
- The Rams finish the season ranked No. 8 in the nation in attendance.
- CSU played a fifth-set conference match at home for the first time since playing the Border War in 2016.
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen, Kirstie Hillyer and Jessica Jackson all reached double figure kills.
- Katie Oleksak recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 50 assists and 11 digs.
- Breana Runnels also had a double-double – her seventh of the season – with 23 kills and 10 digs.
- Olivia Nicholson led the back row with 15 digs, while Maddi Foutz added 13.
- CSU had 64 kills in the match to New Mexico's 48.
- Both middles, Hougaard-Jensen and Hillyer, led CSU with eight and seven blocks, respectfully.
- The Rams struggled from the serve line, recorded 16 errors – the most since playing at San Diego State this season.
- The last time the Rams lost their final match of the season, they reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
NEXT
Colorado State will make its 30th postseason appearance – 24th consecutive – and will know its destination on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. MT with the NCAA Volleyball Tournament selection show on ESPNU. The Rams will have a watch party at the Mayor of Old Town in Fort Collins.
#PointRams
Team Stats
NM
CSU
Kills
48
64
Errors
31
34
Attempts
159
162
Hitting %
.107
.185
Points
66.0
86.0
Assists
45
60
Aces
6
7
Blocks
12.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
23
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
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