Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, February 18
Fort Collins, Colo.
7 PM MT
Colorado State
3-2,3-2Mountain West
0
vs
3
UNLV
3-0,3-0Mountain West
1
2
3
F
UNLV
32
25
25
3
Colorado St.
30
17
20
0
Rams Dropped by Rebels Thursday Night
2/18/2021 10:06:00 PM | Volleyball
Colorado State was swept by UNLV in the first match of the series.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – When the third and fourth placed Mountain West teams face off, the sets are bound to be a dogfight until the end.
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Both the Rams and the Rebels walked into Thursday night's matchup at Moby Arena with a two-game winning streak, and neither team wanted to forfeit a victory.
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Ultimately, Colorado State fell to UNLV in a sweep, 32-30, 25-17, 25-20.
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The first set established the tone for the rest of the night. With several timeouts scattered throughout the contest and the score creeping into the 30-point range, both teams knew the importance of a first-set victory.
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Every time either team was in a position to win, the competitor would come back and tie it up. The Rebels applied the pressure and topped the Rams by a scarce two points.
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"I would say that they just played a better game toward the end," senior Breana Runnels said. "One of the things we focus on is playing close and finishing at the end. They stole it away from us. We had fire throughout the whole set, and toward the end, we just lacked that little fire that we needed."
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After the first set was lost, another followed, and then one more. Sometimes, wanting to win a match just isn't enough.
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But even a loss is an opportunity to learn something new.
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Despite taking the defeat, Runnels was hopeful for what Saturday's rematch has in store. And the key? Having more fun.
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"I think one of the things we talked about toward the end is just having more fun with it," Runnels added. "When we went on those runs that they were scoring, like when they had a seven-point run in the last set, I think we kinda just fell off a bit and weren't having as much fun. I think tomorrow when we go into practice, we'll go in with the same energy that we need on Saturday."
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The entire day wasn't a loss and the team still put out decent numbers. Runnels had 11 kills and Jacqui Van Leifde and Kennedy Stanford both held their own with seven kills each. Ciera Zimmerman had 28 assists for the night.
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Even coach Tom Hilbert wasn't upset with how the team played.
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"I thought the first set we competed well, and I think in the third set, with the exception of the point run, I thought we played pretty well," Hilbert said. "Vegas is just extremely consistent and has a lot of weapons. They were just really balanced and really good."
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The Rebels walked into Moby ready to win, and with so many different attack angles, the Rams were outmaneuvered. With one day of practice before their rematch, Hilbert has limited time to hone the team's skills, so he must choose wisely.
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What the Rams do have going for them is the improvement on receiving serves from their opponent.
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"I did like the fact that this was a better serve receive game for us," Hilbert said. "I mean, they did have that seven-point run in the beginning of the third set, but for most of this match, I thought we serve received well, so I was pleased."
Â
Between Hilbert's plan to revisit some weak points from Thursday's game and Runnels' plan to get loose and have fun, the team is hopeful the next outing at Moby will be a success.
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STAT OF THE MATCH
UNLV was efficient in the sweep, finishing with a .362 hitting mark and being blocked just once.
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MATCH NOTES
- The Rams finished the match hitting .209, which included a match-low .098 in the second
- Breana Runnels led the Rams again with 11 kills, reaching double-figures for the fourth time this season
- Zimmerman dished out 28 assists and added seven digs
- Alexa Roumeliotis tagged 21 digs – a season high
- CSU recorded just 36 kills in the sweep to the Rebels' 52
- Colorado State's 12-match home win streak against UNLV was snapped and the eight-match series streak as well
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UP NEXT
Colorado State will face UNLV for match two on Saturday afternoon with the first serve at noon on the Mountain West Network.
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Both the Rams and the Rebels walked into Thursday night's matchup at Moby Arena with a two-game winning streak, and neither team wanted to forfeit a victory.
Â
Ultimately, Colorado State fell to UNLV in a sweep, 32-30, 25-17, 25-20.
Â
The first set established the tone for the rest of the night. With several timeouts scattered throughout the contest and the score creeping into the 30-point range, both teams knew the importance of a first-set victory.
Â
Every time either team was in a position to win, the competitor would come back and tie it up. The Rebels applied the pressure and topped the Rams by a scarce two points.
Â
"I would say that they just played a better game toward the end," senior Breana Runnels said. "One of the things we focus on is playing close and finishing at the end. They stole it away from us. We had fire throughout the whole set, and toward the end, we just lacked that little fire that we needed."
Â
After the first set was lost, another followed, and then one more. Sometimes, wanting to win a match just isn't enough.
Â
But even a loss is an opportunity to learn something new.
Â
Despite taking the defeat, Runnels was hopeful for what Saturday's rematch has in store. And the key? Having more fun.
Â
"I think one of the things we talked about toward the end is just having more fun with it," Runnels added. "When we went on those runs that they were scoring, like when they had a seven-point run in the last set, I think we kinda just fell off a bit and weren't having as much fun. I think tomorrow when we go into practice, we'll go in with the same energy that we need on Saturday."
Â
The entire day wasn't a loss and the team still put out decent numbers. Runnels had 11 kills and Jacqui Van Leifde and Kennedy Stanford both held their own with seven kills each. Ciera Zimmerman had 28 assists for the night.
Â
Even coach Tom Hilbert wasn't upset with how the team played.
Â
"I thought the first set we competed well, and I think in the third set, with the exception of the point run, I thought we played pretty well," Hilbert said. "Vegas is just extremely consistent and has a lot of weapons. They were just really balanced and really good."
Â
The Rebels walked into Moby ready to win, and with so many different attack angles, the Rams were outmaneuvered. With one day of practice before their rematch, Hilbert has limited time to hone the team's skills, so he must choose wisely.
Â
What the Rams do have going for them is the improvement on receiving serves from their opponent.
Â
"I did like the fact that this was a better serve receive game for us," Hilbert said. "I mean, they did have that seven-point run in the beginning of the third set, but for most of this match, I thought we serve received well, so I was pleased."
Â
Between Hilbert's plan to revisit some weak points from Thursday's game and Runnels' plan to get loose and have fun, the team is hopeful the next outing at Moby will be a success.
Â
STAT OF THE MATCH
UNLV was efficient in the sweep, finishing with a .362 hitting mark and being blocked just once.
Â
MATCH NOTES
- The Rams finished the match hitting .209, which included a match-low .098 in the second
- Breana Runnels led the Rams again with 11 kills, reaching double-figures for the fourth time this season
- Zimmerman dished out 28 assists and added seven digs
- Alexa Roumeliotis tagged 21 digs – a season high
- CSU recorded just 36 kills in the sweep to the Rebels' 52
- Colorado State's 12-match home win streak against UNLV was snapped and the eight-match series streak as well
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UP NEXT
Colorado State will face UNLV for match two on Saturday afternoon with the first serve at noon on the Mountain West Network.
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Team Stats
UNLV
CSU
Kills
52
36
Errors
10
13
Attempts
116
110
Hitting %
.362
.209
Points
63
39
Assists
47
35
Aces
6
2
Blocks
5
1
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
S
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DS/L
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