Rams Start Second Half of Mountain West Schedule

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State will begin the second half of the Mountain West schedule on the road this week at Air Force and New Mexico. From here on out, the Rams will face opponents they already saw earlier this season, but at reversed locations. CSU will start the week playing the Falcons on Thursday at 6 p.m., MT before heading to New Mexico for a 12 p.m., MT match on Saturday.

Rams at a Glance
» Colorado State continued Mountain West action last week with a road and home match. The Rams extended their winning streak to five straight with a reverse sweep at San Diego State before keeping their perfect record with their sixth consecutive sweep in Moby Arena against UNLV.
» The Rams start the second half of the Mountain West schedule at 9-1 in the conference and sits alone at the top of the standings after winning their last six matches and 9-1 in the last 10.
» CSU has cruised passed seven of its 10 conference opponents, including recording a sweep in each of the six home conference matches and hold a 28-6 set mark in conference matches.
» The Rams have played four five-set matches this season, with each coming down to the final two points.
» Colorado State has gathered three Mountain West weekly awards so far this season -- sophomore outside Kennedy Stanford earned Offensive Player of the Week and senior libero Alexa Roumeliotis earned Defensive Player of the Week twice.
» In the Rams 19 matches played this season, 23 sets have been decided by two points – with 13 falling in favor of CSU. In Mountain West action, the Rams are 7-2 in those set scenarios.

Scouting Air Force
» Air Force holds a 2-8 mark in the Mountain West and is 10th in the standings.
» The Falcons and Rams met quite recently, just about two weeks ago in Moby Arena with Colorado State sweeping Air Force handedly.
» Last week AF split matches, sweeping Nevada at home before getting swept at San Jose State.
» The sweep against the Wolf Pack snapped the Falcons six-match skid and gave them their second Mountain West win (Fresno State).

Scouting New Mexico
» New Mexico carries a 6-3 record in Mountain West matches at the half way mark is fourth in the standings.
» The Lobos split matches last week, dropping a home match against San Jose State, which was their third-consecutive loss, before picking up a road sweep at Nevada.
» Since Colorado State and New Mexico played last, the Lobos are 1-2, dropping it's match at Wyoming two weeks ago after first playing CSU.
» New Mexico started the season with six-straight sweeps and have since totaled 10 for the season.
» The Lobos had a weak pre-season schedule, recording a 9-2 mark in their non-conference, but currently holds a 151 RPI with a 12-2 mark against opponents below 150 and a 0-3 record against top 50 teams.

Last Time
» The Rams swept the Falcons for the 50th time in 56 matches earlier this season on Oct. 16 in Moby Arena. The Rams cruised hitting .326 and kept the Falcons to a .047 mark. Kennedy Stanford led the Rams with 11 kills and Ciera Pritchard dropped in three of CSU's six aces. Alexa Roumeliotis added to her dig total with 15 in the sweep.
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» Colorado State swept New Mexico earlier this season on Oct. 14 in Moby Arena. The Rams finished hitting .263 in the match, while keeping the Lobos at a .023 mark. CSU doubled New Mexico's kills, 41-20 and dropped in seven aces. Kennedy Stanford led the Rams with 11 kills, Sasha Colombo slammed down six blocks and Alexa Roumeliotis had only eight digs as the Lobos hit away from the star libero.

Series History
» Colorado State handles the series against Air Force, holding a 54-2 overall record.
» The Rams have swept the Falcons 50 times in the 56-match series and has only played one five-set match.
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» Colorado State and New Mexico have one of the longest standing series, as the Rams and Lobos will meet for the 84th time on Saturday afternoon.
» The Rams hold a 59-24 advantage in the series that dates back to 1974 and is 24-14 all time while in ABQ, including 8-2 in the last 10 matches.
» Colorado State's last loss at New Mexico was in 2012 and was just the third loss in the series since 1995. Since '95 the Rams are 45-4 all-time with three of those losses coming in ABQ.
Coaches
» Tom Hilbert: 25th year at Colorado State (614-14); 33rd year overall (788-218).
» Prior to coming to Colorado State, Hilbert was the head coach at Idaho from 1989-96 and accumulated a 174-72 record, which remains the best winning percentage by a coach in Idaho history. While in Moscow, he helped the Vandals win the regular season or tournament every year from 1992-95.
» Keith Barnett: Third year at Air Force (20-43); third year overall.
» Jon Newman-Gonchar: Third year at New Mexico (30-35); third year overall.

Home Sweet Home
» Playing in Moby Arena has never been easy for any opponent. After a season with no fans in the seats due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, this season the Rams' faithful have been more than happy to be back.
» Colorado State currently ranks No. 7 in the nation in average attendance, sitting above programs like Florida, UCLA, Purdue, Illinois, Kentucky, Washington, Stanford and many more highly ranked teams.
» Colorado State is averaging 2,606 fans per match, the highest in the Mountain West by almost four times.
» The Rams are 9-2 so far this season while in Moby, including a perfect 6-0 in mountain West match and not dropping a single set.

Up Next
» After the two-match road trip, Colorado State will return to Moby Arena and host Nevada and San Jose State next week.

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