Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, September 22
Fort Collins, Colo.
7 PM MT
Colorado State
10-4, 2-0MW
3
vs
0
San Jose State
5-6, 0-2MW
1
2
3
F
San Jose State
15
16
24
0
Colorado State
25
25
26
3
Photo by: Tomas Redondo
Rams sail past San Jose State in Mountain West home opener
9/22/2018 9:54:00 PM | Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State volleyball team sailed past San Jose State on Saturday evening in its Mountain West home opener in Moby Arena. The Rams hit a season-best .398 in the sweep, led by Breana Runnels who had 14 kills and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen who hit a blistering .625 with 11 kills on 16 attempts.
In the first set, the Rams went on an early five-point run to make the score 5-1 and never looked back. The Spartans got within six points at 16-10, but CSU held their advantage and finished the frame off, 25-15 with a kill from freshman Jacqi Van Liefde.
Colorado State cruised out to an 11-6 advantage in the second set and held the lead throughout the heart of the frame, which included a 10-4 run late, on its way to securing a 2-0 match lead with a kill from Sasha Columbo.
In the final frame, San Jose State put up a fight, battling back from an early deficit to tie the game at 13-all. The Spartans took set point at 24-23, forcing a CSU timeout; but the Rams went on a three point run to earn the set and match victory, 26-24.
QUOTES
Head Coach Tom Hilbert's opening statement…
"One of our goals was to keep our offense balanced today. I think we did a fairly good job of that when we handled the ball, and it showed in our hitting efficiency numbers. I was very pleased with our offensive and with our blocking until the third set, but I was very pleased with the way we ended that third set. I thought we did some really good things defensively. Katie (Oleksak) had to take first balls, Olivia (Nicholson) managed those balls really well and Breana (Runnels) took great swings. I was really pleased with that endgame situation."
Olivia Nicholson on her preparation for stepping into the libero position…
"It's a new role for me, so it's fun, it's new, it's fresh. I know that my job is pretty important, so in practice, for second balls when Katie (Oleksak) digs, or defensively, I know I need to improve still. Because Amanda (Young) is gone, personally I put an extra emphasis on that and I think the team has as well as a whole. We've picked up our defensive game in practice, which shows in the last few matches."
Breana Runnels on the team spreading the ball out more and giving kill opportunities to more hitters…
"It doesn't really change my mentality because I want my teammates to play as well. I'll be patient. It's not important that I get the kills. It's important that that we play as a team, and that's how we win."
STAT OF THE DAY
Sasha Colombo led the Rams with four service aces in five attempts.
NOTES
- Breana Runnels led the team with 14 kills
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen was dominant on the net recording five blocks while also contributing 11 kills
- Katie Oleksak dished out 35 assists, while adding three blocks
- Olivia Nicholson led the back row with 14 digs
- The Rams finished hitting at a .398 clip while holding the Spartans to a .116 mark
- CSU also totaled eight blocks while SJS had six
NEXT
Colorado State will head to San Diego, Calif. to take on San Diego State on Thursday night at 7 p.m. MT.
In the first set, the Rams went on an early five-point run to make the score 5-1 and never looked back. The Spartans got within six points at 16-10, but CSU held their advantage and finished the frame off, 25-15 with a kill from freshman Jacqi Van Liefde.
Colorado State cruised out to an 11-6 advantage in the second set and held the lead throughout the heart of the frame, which included a 10-4 run late, on its way to securing a 2-0 match lead with a kill from Sasha Columbo.
In the final frame, San Jose State put up a fight, battling back from an early deficit to tie the game at 13-all. The Spartans took set point at 24-23, forcing a CSU timeout; but the Rams went on a three point run to earn the set and match victory, 26-24.
QUOTES
Head Coach Tom Hilbert's opening statement…
"One of our goals was to keep our offense balanced today. I think we did a fairly good job of that when we handled the ball, and it showed in our hitting efficiency numbers. I was very pleased with our offensive and with our blocking until the third set, but I was very pleased with the way we ended that third set. I thought we did some really good things defensively. Katie (Oleksak) had to take first balls, Olivia (Nicholson) managed those balls really well and Breana (Runnels) took great swings. I was really pleased with that endgame situation."
Olivia Nicholson on her preparation for stepping into the libero position…
"It's a new role for me, so it's fun, it's new, it's fresh. I know that my job is pretty important, so in practice, for second balls when Katie (Oleksak) digs, or defensively, I know I need to improve still. Because Amanda (Young) is gone, personally I put an extra emphasis on that and I think the team has as well as a whole. We've picked up our defensive game in practice, which shows in the last few matches."
Breana Runnels on the team spreading the ball out more and giving kill opportunities to more hitters…
"It doesn't really change my mentality because I want my teammates to play as well. I'll be patient. It's not important that I get the kills. It's important that that we play as a team, and that's how we win."
STAT OF THE DAY
Sasha Colombo led the Rams with four service aces in five attempts.
NOTES
- Breana Runnels led the team with 14 kills
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen was dominant on the net recording five blocks while also contributing 11 kills
- Katie Oleksak dished out 35 assists, while adding three blocks
- Olivia Nicholson led the back row with 14 digs
- The Rams finished hitting at a .398 clip while holding the Spartans to a .116 mark
- CSU also totaled eight blocks while SJS had six
NEXT
Colorado State will head to San Diego, Calif. to take on San Diego State on Thursday night at 7 p.m. MT.
#PointRams
Team Stats
SJ
CSU
Kills
29
46
Errors
18
11
Attempts
95
88
Hitting %
.116
.398
Points
39.0
60.0
Assists
25
42
Aces
4
6
Blocks
6.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
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