Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, November 6
Fort Collins, CO
1:00 PM
Colorado State
16-7,12-2Mountain West
3
vs
0
San Jose State
16-8,10-4Mountain West
1
2
3
F
San Jose St.
15
22
16
0
Colorado St.
25
25
25
3
Rams Extend Home Winning Streak
11/6/2021 3:55:00 PM | Volleyball
Colorado State extended its home winning streak to eight-consecutive sweeps.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Have no expectations.
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Or that's what Colorado State volleyball head coach Tom Hilbert preaches to his team.
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It's served them well, as their Saturday afternoon sweep against San Jose State (25-15, 25-22, 25-16) brought their conference record to 12-2 and perfect 8-0 at home, leaving them leading the Mountain West conference.
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"If you have an expectation and then all of a sudden the match is not going by that expectation, it can disrupt you a little bit," Hilbert said. "We have no expectations, just go play and play hard and execute. It's a funny way to think about it, because we do have preparation and we expect them to do certain things and we're prepared. But we don't have an expectation of an outcome, we just want to go out and execute one play at a time."
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And taking the match one play at a time served the team well, as the performance against the Spartans left the Rams with several individual victories in the win.
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Sophomore Kennedy Stanford posted 16 kills, only three shy of her season-best of 19 and keeping a .406 hitting percentage for the match. Joining her in success is Karina Leber, who hit .538 with nine kills.
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Ciera Pritchard now sits tied for third all-time at Colorado State (modern scoring) in service aces, totaling 37 after adding another four from today's match.
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Throughout the season, the Rams have exceled at finishing out matches, with only four contests going into five sets. Much of this can be attributed to staying strong and focused during the second set, despite allowing the Spartans to tie the frame six times and having three lead changes before the Rams eventually secured the victory.
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"It really gives us strength knowing in important situations we can always come back," senior middle Sasha Colombo said. "Even if they're putting a lot of pressure on us, we are always ready to fight back."
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But differentiating between having no expectations and still being prepared for an opponent comes into play. As Hilbert says, preparation is one of the biggest factors for winning a match, which will serve the team well as they finish out their last four matches of the conference season, with their next opponent being Wyoming at their home court.
Â
Last time against the Cowgirls, the Rams swept them 3-0 at Moby, but the Border War is historically a high stakes game with a lot of energy. With a lot riding on this match, it's even more important for the lineup to keep a level head and follow Hilbert's advice.
Â
"They're at home, home court advantage," Standford said. "If we come out and play hard and don't let the crowd affect us, that'll be really important."
Â
With all the victories from this match, big and small, the team has their eyes set on not only the regular-season title, but to carry momentum into the Mountain West Tournament and the chance to return to the NCAA Tournament.
Â
Each match shows the coaching staff what they want to see, especially when they play against tough opponents and keep their playing tight.
Â
"We played with great maturity," Hilbert said. "One of the unsung statistics here is there were very few unforced hitting errors. When you're doing that, you're forcing the other team to earn 25 points, and it's hard to earn 25. Most of the time, the other team gives you some. My only issue all day is we missed too many serves in the third set. Nobody is trying to do that; it just happens that way. We played well, we passed the ball really well, we kept our offense spread around and very diverse, it was a great match for us."
Â
The Rams will be on the road for the Border War on Tuesday before returning to Moby Arena to face Fresno State for Senior Day and the final home match of the season next Saturday.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Or that's what Colorado State volleyball head coach Tom Hilbert preaches to his team.
Â
It's served them well, as their Saturday afternoon sweep against San Jose State (25-15, 25-22, 25-16) brought their conference record to 12-2 and perfect 8-0 at home, leaving them leading the Mountain West conference.
Â
"If you have an expectation and then all of a sudden the match is not going by that expectation, it can disrupt you a little bit," Hilbert said. "We have no expectations, just go play and play hard and execute. It's a funny way to think about it, because we do have preparation and we expect them to do certain things and we're prepared. But we don't have an expectation of an outcome, we just want to go out and execute one play at a time."
Â
And taking the match one play at a time served the team well, as the performance against the Spartans left the Rams with several individual victories in the win.
Â
Sophomore Kennedy Stanford posted 16 kills, only three shy of her season-best of 19 and keeping a .406 hitting percentage for the match. Joining her in success is Karina Leber, who hit .538 with nine kills.
Â
Ciera Pritchard now sits tied for third all-time at Colorado State (modern scoring) in service aces, totaling 37 after adding another four from today's match.
Â
Throughout the season, the Rams have exceled at finishing out matches, with only four contests going into five sets. Much of this can be attributed to staying strong and focused during the second set, despite allowing the Spartans to tie the frame six times and having three lead changes before the Rams eventually secured the victory.
Â
"It really gives us strength knowing in important situations we can always come back," senior middle Sasha Colombo said. "Even if they're putting a lot of pressure on us, we are always ready to fight back."
Â
But differentiating between having no expectations and still being prepared for an opponent comes into play. As Hilbert says, preparation is one of the biggest factors for winning a match, which will serve the team well as they finish out their last four matches of the conference season, with their next opponent being Wyoming at their home court.
Â
Last time against the Cowgirls, the Rams swept them 3-0 at Moby, but the Border War is historically a high stakes game with a lot of energy. With a lot riding on this match, it's even more important for the lineup to keep a level head and follow Hilbert's advice.
Â
"They're at home, home court advantage," Standford said. "If we come out and play hard and don't let the crowd affect us, that'll be really important."
Â
With all the victories from this match, big and small, the team has their eyes set on not only the regular-season title, but to carry momentum into the Mountain West Tournament and the chance to return to the NCAA Tournament.
Â
Each match shows the coaching staff what they want to see, especially when they play against tough opponents and keep their playing tight.
Â
"We played with great maturity," Hilbert said. "One of the unsung statistics here is there were very few unforced hitting errors. When you're doing that, you're forcing the other team to earn 25 points, and it's hard to earn 25. Most of the time, the other team gives you some. My only issue all day is we missed too many serves in the third set. Nobody is trying to do that; it just happens that way. We played well, we passed the ball really well, we kept our offense spread around and very diverse, it was a great match for us."
Â
The Rams will be on the road for the Border War on Tuesday before returning to Moby Arena to face Fresno State for Senior Day and the final home match of the season next Saturday.
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Team Stats
SJSU
CSU
Kills
34
50
Errors
15
9
Attempts
98
108
Hitting %
.194
.380
Points
39
64
Assists
31
44
Aces
0
8
Blocks
5
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
3
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