Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, August 31
Fort Collins, Colo.
1 PM MT
Colorado State
1-1,0-0MWC
1
vs
3
California
2-0,0-0Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
California
25
23
25
25
3
Colorado State
18
25
19
10
1
Photo by: Abby Mathieson
Rams split Saturday matches
8/31/2019 10:15:00 PM | Volleyball
Colorado State dropped the first match to Cal before responding with a sweep over Oklahoma in the White Out match.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The performance was well out of character.
In a 3-1 loss to Cal earlier Saturday, Colorado State had 29 attack errors. Remember, this is a program under coach Tom Hilbert built on being a low-error team. Compounding the issue, the Rams added 10 service errors without a single ace to try to balance out the ledger.
The last time the Rams didn't have an ace in a home match came against Fresno State on Nov. 21, 2015.
CSU head coach Tom Hilbert liked the first two sets against the Bears, but he agreed the Rams became a bit wild in the final two, and some of that he attributed to Cal's style.
"I don't know the reasons for that," Hilbert said. "We have to go back and look at the film and see if there's some patterns, and it could be just fatigue."
To get back to form, the Rams closed their eyes.
"It's definitely tough to bounce back, but I feel we have so much experience now, so we all agreed, hey, it's a new day, went home, took a nap and hey, it's a new day," middle blocker Paulina Hougaard-Jensen said.
A good rest served the Rams well, as they bounced back by sweeping Oklahoma 25-13, 25-20, 25-20 in the nightcap, the team's annual White Out game, playing in front of a crowd of 5,003 at Moby Arena.
Hougaard-Jensen paced the effort, finishing the match with 12 kills. She was hot early, her first nine kills coming off 11 swings without an error. Hougaard-Jensen also led the strong blocking effort with five as the Rams closed with 11 as a team.
To get back in the swing of things, so to speak, put Hougaard-Jensen more at ease with her play over the weekend as both she and Kirstie Hillyer were named to the all-tournament team.
"I was personally a little disappointed about my performance earlier today and yesterday," she said. "I was a little angry and I just decided to play. Honestly, I feel like I had more nerves in the game this morning. I felt like I wasn't really in my own body somehow, like my head was a little fuzzy. Tonight, I just felt really relaxed."
For most of the match, so did the rest of her teammates. A veteran squad is expected to put a bad stretch behind them and move forward, which is what the Rams did.
For the most part. They hit .500 in the opening set, but didn't hold up the pace, finishing at .250. For setter Katie Oleksak, she said her part of the equation was just to keep getting them good sets to swing at, notching 31 assists in the trio of sets.
Breana Runnels had eight kills, Hillyer and Jessica Jackson seven each. The middles were valuable assets throughout, combining to hit .485.
"I think it's just keep dishing the ball and trusting them and giving them good sets," she said. "After that Cal game, we didn't want to focus on our mistakes. We just kinda wanted to focus on Oklahoma and it was kinda just in the trash can."
CSU also regrouped at the service line, with Brooke Hudson producing two of the roster's six aces against just four errors. All in all, more of what Hilbert expects, and all he did was give them a bit of a reminder.
"We talk about it before the game, how we want to play clean," he said. "That's been part of our game plan. The serving targets we were giving these guys, I think they were simpler tonight. We were trying to go after one person in the Cal match, and that makes it a little more difficult. For some people, that may not be the best serve for them."
MATCH NOTES
vs. Cal
- The Rams were led by Breana Runnels who floored 12 kills
- CSU recorded 10.5 blocks, led by Kirstie Hillyer who had six, including a solo block.
- Olivia Nicholson paced the back row with 13 digs and nearly grabbed a double-double with nine kills.
- The Rams did not recorded an ace in the match for the first time since playing Fresno State in 2015 in Moby Arena.
vs. Oklahoma
- The Rams hosted their annual 'White Out' and drew 5,003 fans.
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen floored a team-high 12 kills while hitting .429. She also added five blocks – three solo.
- CSU dropped in six service aces, led by freshman Brooke Hudson who had a pair.
- Both Kirstie Hillyer and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen were named to the All-Tournament team.
UP NEXT
The Ram will head on the road to Fort Worth, Texas for the Fight in the Fort Tournament hosted by TCU. CSU will face Florida Atlantic, TCU and Florida State, Sept. 6-7.
In a 3-1 loss to Cal earlier Saturday, Colorado State had 29 attack errors. Remember, this is a program under coach Tom Hilbert built on being a low-error team. Compounding the issue, the Rams added 10 service errors without a single ace to try to balance out the ledger.
The last time the Rams didn't have an ace in a home match came against Fresno State on Nov. 21, 2015.
CSU head coach Tom Hilbert liked the first two sets against the Bears, but he agreed the Rams became a bit wild in the final two, and some of that he attributed to Cal's style.
"I don't know the reasons for that," Hilbert said. "We have to go back and look at the film and see if there's some patterns, and it could be just fatigue."
To get back to form, the Rams closed their eyes.
"It's definitely tough to bounce back, but I feel we have so much experience now, so we all agreed, hey, it's a new day, went home, took a nap and hey, it's a new day," middle blocker Paulina Hougaard-Jensen said.
A good rest served the Rams well, as they bounced back by sweeping Oklahoma 25-13, 25-20, 25-20 in the nightcap, the team's annual White Out game, playing in front of a crowd of 5,003 at Moby Arena.
Hougaard-Jensen paced the effort, finishing the match with 12 kills. She was hot early, her first nine kills coming off 11 swings without an error. Hougaard-Jensen also led the strong blocking effort with five as the Rams closed with 11 as a team.
To get back in the swing of things, so to speak, put Hougaard-Jensen more at ease with her play over the weekend as both she and Kirstie Hillyer were named to the all-tournament team.
"I was personally a little disappointed about my performance earlier today and yesterday," she said. "I was a little angry and I just decided to play. Honestly, I feel like I had more nerves in the game this morning. I felt like I wasn't really in my own body somehow, like my head was a little fuzzy. Tonight, I just felt really relaxed."
For most of the match, so did the rest of her teammates. A veteran squad is expected to put a bad stretch behind them and move forward, which is what the Rams did.
For the most part. They hit .500 in the opening set, but didn't hold up the pace, finishing at .250. For setter Katie Oleksak, she said her part of the equation was just to keep getting them good sets to swing at, notching 31 assists in the trio of sets.
Breana Runnels had eight kills, Hillyer and Jessica Jackson seven each. The middles were valuable assets throughout, combining to hit .485.
"I think it's just keep dishing the ball and trusting them and giving them good sets," she said. "After that Cal game, we didn't want to focus on our mistakes. We just kinda wanted to focus on Oklahoma and it was kinda just in the trash can."
CSU also regrouped at the service line, with Brooke Hudson producing two of the roster's six aces against just four errors. All in all, more of what Hilbert expects, and all he did was give them a bit of a reminder.
"We talk about it before the game, how we want to play clean," he said. "That's been part of our game plan. The serving targets we were giving these guys, I think they were simpler tonight. We were trying to go after one person in the Cal match, and that makes it a little more difficult. For some people, that may not be the best serve for them."
MATCH NOTES
vs. Cal
- The Rams were led by Breana Runnels who floored 12 kills
- CSU recorded 10.5 blocks, led by Kirstie Hillyer who had six, including a solo block.
- Olivia Nicholson paced the back row with 13 digs and nearly grabbed a double-double with nine kills.
- The Rams did not recorded an ace in the match for the first time since playing Fresno State in 2015 in Moby Arena.
vs. Oklahoma
- The Rams hosted their annual 'White Out' and drew 5,003 fans.
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen floored a team-high 12 kills while hitting .429. She also added five blocks – three solo.
- CSU dropped in six service aces, led by freshman Brooke Hudson who had a pair.
- Both Kirstie Hillyer and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen were named to the All-Tournament team.
UP NEXT
The Ram will head on the road to Fort Worth, Texas for the Fight in the Fort Tournament hosted by TCU. CSU will face Florida Atlantic, TCU and Florida State, Sept. 6-7.
#PointRams
Team Stats
Cal
CSU
Kills
56
49
Errors
17
30
Attempts
134
163
Hitting %
.291
.117
Points
70.0
59.5
Assists
53
46
Aces
3
0
Blocks
11.0
10.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
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