Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, December 2
Fort Collins, CO
7:30 PM
Colorado State
19-10,14-4Mountain West
3
vs
0
Houston Baptist
21-9,12-2Southland
1
2
3
F
Houston Baptist
18
21
16
0
Colorado St.
25
25
25
3
Rams Sweep Past Huskies in First Round
12/2/2021 10:57:00 PM | Volleyball
Colorado State extended its home winning streak to 10-straight, including not dropping a set.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Rams were walking in uncharted territory.Â
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Participating in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship for the first time on Thursday evening after a loss in the Mountain West tournament, the match against the Houston Baptist University Huskies was a chance for redemption.
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Which the Rams reached in a three-set sweep, 25-18, 25-21, 25-16.Â
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"We were all really excited," setter Ciera Pritchard, who had 32 assists for the match, said. "Especially with the fact we're a young team, to be able to still play in a postseason to get used to playing in a postseason, it's really good for us to all be able to get used to playing that."
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The team was working with some minor changes to their lineup. Using Alyssa Bert as their libero for Alexa Roumeliotis, the Rams were working hard to keep their performance consistent.
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Bert and Perez each collected eight digs for the match, accompanied by Ruby Kayser with six and Kennedy Stanford with four. Sasha Colombo, Bert, Pritchard, and Perez each had a service ace for the set.Â
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And while the first frame was far from pretty, CSU took the win over their opponent 25-18 after beginning the set with a substantial deficit. Collectively, the Rams suffered seven errors for the first set and yielded a hitting percentage of .121. Jacqui Van Liefde and Colombo held strong for the team, sporting a .400 and .500 hitting percentage respectively.
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"I can't really pinpoint what was going on," Van Liefde said. "We missed a few points, but we just got back up and kept going. That's what we've been working on before every set we're just like 'hey, let's get on them early.'"Â
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The second frame, though close in score, was a cleaner bout. With only four errors and 14 kills as a team, the Rams took the second set for themselves 25-21.Â
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The Rams found their strength in closing their sets. Despite allowing the Huskies to gain traction, when it came down to the wire, the team excelled in applying pressure and emerging with a victory.Â
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"We went in the timeout and we were like 'we're at home, set a good mark, especially for tomorrow.' The first two sets were pretty sloppy, so we wanted to go into the third set and just have a clean third set,"Â Colombo said.
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By the third set, the Rams knew what they needed to do to seal the match. Hitting .417 with a score of 25-16, it was clear the team owned their responsibility and stepped up to the plate. Shaving down their errors to two and putting up two service aces for the set, CSU was back to their usual performance in Moby.Â
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"What you're essentially doing is practicing the duration of a season," head coach Tom Hilbert said. "This is our sixteenth week and we want to play a seventeenth week. It's good for us as a program, it's fun for our players, it's fun for our fans."Â
Â
For the match, the Rams held on to a .367 hitting percentage and put up 39 kills, largely tanks to Sullivan with nine and Karina Leber with eight. Though the Rams are hosting the tournament, there is no added pressure to perform.Â
Â
All of the work from the normal conference play prepared the Rams well for the competition they are seeing in this tournament, which will serve them well in their match against UTEP on December 3.Â
Â
"They're supposed to be a big and strong team, so tomorrow we want to show them we're big and strong too," Van Liefde said.
Â
Â
Â
Participating in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship for the first time on Thursday evening after a loss in the Mountain West tournament, the match against the Houston Baptist University Huskies was a chance for redemption.
Â
Which the Rams reached in a three-set sweep, 25-18, 25-21, 25-16.Â
Â
"We were all really excited," setter Ciera Pritchard, who had 32 assists for the match, said. "Especially with the fact we're a young team, to be able to still play in a postseason to get used to playing in a postseason, it's really good for us to all be able to get used to playing that."
Â
The team was working with some minor changes to their lineup. Using Alyssa Bert as their libero for Alexa Roumeliotis, the Rams were working hard to keep their performance consistent.
Â
Bert and Perez each collected eight digs for the match, accompanied by Ruby Kayser with six and Kennedy Stanford with four. Sasha Colombo, Bert, Pritchard, and Perez each had a service ace for the set.Â
Â
And while the first frame was far from pretty, CSU took the win over their opponent 25-18 after beginning the set with a substantial deficit. Collectively, the Rams suffered seven errors for the first set and yielded a hitting percentage of .121. Jacqui Van Liefde and Colombo held strong for the team, sporting a .400 and .500 hitting percentage respectively.
Â
"I can't really pinpoint what was going on," Van Liefde said. "We missed a few points, but we just got back up and kept going. That's what we've been working on before every set we're just like 'hey, let's get on them early.'"Â
Â
The second frame, though close in score, was a cleaner bout. With only four errors and 14 kills as a team, the Rams took the second set for themselves 25-21.Â
Â
The Rams found their strength in closing their sets. Despite allowing the Huskies to gain traction, when it came down to the wire, the team excelled in applying pressure and emerging with a victory.Â
Â
"We went in the timeout and we were like 'we're at home, set a good mark, especially for tomorrow.' The first two sets were pretty sloppy, so we wanted to go into the third set and just have a clean third set,"Â Colombo said.
Â
By the third set, the Rams knew what they needed to do to seal the match. Hitting .417 with a score of 25-16, it was clear the team owned their responsibility and stepped up to the plate. Shaving down their errors to two and putting up two service aces for the set, CSU was back to their usual performance in Moby.Â
Â
"What you're essentially doing is practicing the duration of a season," head coach Tom Hilbert said. "This is our sixteenth week and we want to play a seventeenth week. It's good for us as a program, it's fun for our players, it's fun for our fans."Â
Â
For the match, the Rams held on to a .367 hitting percentage and put up 39 kills, largely tanks to Sullivan with nine and Karina Leber with eight. Though the Rams are hosting the tournament, there is no added pressure to perform.Â
Â
All of the work from the normal conference play prepared the Rams well for the competition they are seeing in this tournament, which will serve them well in their match against UTEP on December 3.Â
Â
"They're supposed to be a big and strong team, so tomorrow we want to show them we're big and strong too," Van Liefde said.
Â
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Team Stats
HBU
CSU
Kills
31
39
Errors
20
14
Attempts
94
99
Hitting %
.117
.253
Points
36
51
Assists
30
35
Aces
2
8
Blocks
3
4
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
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