Colorado State University Athletics
Wednesday, September 18
Fort Collins, Colo.
7 PM MT
Colorado State
8-1
3
vs
0
Northern Colorado
5-5
1
2
3
F
Northern Colorado
20
14
15
0
Colorado State
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Cris Tiller
No. 22 Rams’ Defense Stuffs Bears in Sweep
9/18/2019 10:07:00 PM | Volleyball
Colorado State put up 11 blocks and 51 digs in the sweep over Northern Colorado
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Sloppy sets are an anomaly for the Colorado State.
Against Northern Colorado, the newly minted No. 22 Rams hit a rare snag on the volleyball court. Setter Katie Oleksak's early sets were uncharacteristically off, the serve receive and blocking efforts weren't up to par and the Bears took advantage.
"They were scoring on some interesting things," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "We did have some unforced hitting errors that were coming in the fifth and sixth swing of a rally… They were just hanging in."
The two teams are familiar. Along with annual regular season matches, the two also regularly square off in the preseason. And, as normal, the Rams pulled away with a 25-20, 25-14, 25-15 sweep Wednesday night at Moby Arena.
Several facets of the Bears' plan were a surprise though. After winning the opening coin toss, they elected to give the ball to the Rams before sending out an unfamiliar lineup, stocked with new plays.
"They started out in a rotation that we didn't know they were going to start in," Oleksak said. "When we're practicing, we're lined up with their rotations that we think they're starting in. Right off the bat, they set a random play that we hadn't seen.
"It took us a couple plays to adjust to where their rotation was."
The new rotation also brought with it an increased speed. A myriad of newfound parts of the Bears' attack spurned several Rams' runs.
"I think they were a little faster than we were expecting," outside hitter Jessica Jackson said. "We knew that was going to happen after those first couple of balls. That was something we just had to adjust to."
It's been three years – including Wednesday's sweep – since the Rams dropped a set to the Bears. The streak of consecutive wins spans the past 18 matches.
An all-out effort from the Bears is nothing new, nor is their belief they can topple the perennial tournament team from across the state.
"When we go into a gym with them, they are certain they can beat us every time they play us," Hilbert said. "We're certain we can beat them. The players know each other, we know what the coaches do, and we know how they do to get out of certain situations.
"There is a lot of familiarity, and I think that puts (the match) more on an even basis."
The Bears knew the Rams would feed Runnels and Kirstie Hillyer. Conversely, the hosts knew the back-row defense of the Bears was going to be an issue.
Returning libero Taylor Els found a way to surprise the Rams once again. Her return made a difference in the way the Bears defend and serve receive. The switch resulted in eight service errors for the Rams. Each time the Rams attempted to pull away in the back-and-forth first set, their errors thwarted the run.
The match was the first leg of a three-game spree in as many days, further adding to the difficulty.
"It's definitely a challenge," Oleksak said. "It's kind of focusing on the task at hand. Tonight, we got together and we (said), 'just focus on this game, tomorrow, just focus on that game.'"
MATCH NOTES
- CSU improves to 24-6 overall against UNC, including moving its winning streak to 19 matches in the series
- The Rams kept their opponent to a -.029 hitting mark – the third time this season
- The sweep was the seventh of the season
- Breana Runnels was the lone Ram to reach double figure kills with 10 and also added eight digs and four blocks
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen followed with nine kills and put up five blocks
- Kirstie Hillyer added to the net control with five blocks – two solo – and put down six kills
- Jessica Jackson recorded eight kills and Sasha Colombo contributed four
- Alexa Roumeliotis led the back row with 16 digs in the sweep
UP NEXT
The Rams will continue action in Moby Arena against Cal Poly on Thursday night at 7 p.m., MT.
Against Northern Colorado, the newly minted No. 22 Rams hit a rare snag on the volleyball court. Setter Katie Oleksak's early sets were uncharacteristically off, the serve receive and blocking efforts weren't up to par and the Bears took advantage.
"They were scoring on some interesting things," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "We did have some unforced hitting errors that were coming in the fifth and sixth swing of a rally… They were just hanging in."
The two teams are familiar. Along with annual regular season matches, the two also regularly square off in the preseason. And, as normal, the Rams pulled away with a 25-20, 25-14, 25-15 sweep Wednesday night at Moby Arena.
Several facets of the Bears' plan were a surprise though. After winning the opening coin toss, they elected to give the ball to the Rams before sending out an unfamiliar lineup, stocked with new plays.
"They started out in a rotation that we didn't know they were going to start in," Oleksak said. "When we're practicing, we're lined up with their rotations that we think they're starting in. Right off the bat, they set a random play that we hadn't seen.
"It took us a couple plays to adjust to where their rotation was."
The new rotation also brought with it an increased speed. A myriad of newfound parts of the Bears' attack spurned several Rams' runs.
"I think they were a little faster than we were expecting," outside hitter Jessica Jackson said. "We knew that was going to happen after those first couple of balls. That was something we just had to adjust to."
It's been three years – including Wednesday's sweep – since the Rams dropped a set to the Bears. The streak of consecutive wins spans the past 18 matches.
An all-out effort from the Bears is nothing new, nor is their belief they can topple the perennial tournament team from across the state.
"When we go into a gym with them, they are certain they can beat us every time they play us," Hilbert said. "We're certain we can beat them. The players know each other, we know what the coaches do, and we know how they do to get out of certain situations.
"There is a lot of familiarity, and I think that puts (the match) more on an even basis."
The Bears knew the Rams would feed Runnels and Kirstie Hillyer. Conversely, the hosts knew the back-row defense of the Bears was going to be an issue.
Returning libero Taylor Els found a way to surprise the Rams once again. Her return made a difference in the way the Bears defend and serve receive. The switch resulted in eight service errors for the Rams. Each time the Rams attempted to pull away in the back-and-forth first set, their errors thwarted the run.
The match was the first leg of a three-game spree in as many days, further adding to the difficulty.
"It's definitely a challenge," Oleksak said. "It's kind of focusing on the task at hand. Tonight, we got together and we (said), 'just focus on this game, tomorrow, just focus on that game.'"
MATCH NOTES
- CSU improves to 24-6 overall against UNC, including moving its winning streak to 19 matches in the series
- The Rams kept their opponent to a -.029 hitting mark – the third time this season
- The sweep was the seventh of the season
- Breana Runnels was the lone Ram to reach double figure kills with 10 and also added eight digs and four blocks
- Paulina Hougaard-Jensen followed with nine kills and put up five blocks
- Kirstie Hillyer added to the net control with five blocks – two solo – and put down six kills
- Jessica Jackson recorded eight kills and Sasha Colombo contributed four
- Alexa Roumeliotis led the back row with 16 digs in the sweep
UP NEXT
The Rams will continue action in Moby Arena against Cal Poly on Thursday night at 7 p.m., MT.
#PointRams
Team Stats
UNC
CSU
Kills
21
41
Errors
24
15
Attempts
105
97
Hitting %
-.029
.268
Points
30.0
56.0
Assists
18
37
Aces
3
4
Blocks
6.0
11.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
MB/OPP
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
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