Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, August 27
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
vs
South Dakota
Rams Begin 2021 Season with White Out, Hosting Wildcats
8/26/2021 12:02:00 PM | Volleyball
Saturday night’s season opener against Northwestern will be the Rams’ annual White Out match.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – It's the annual White Out for the Colorado State volleyball team, as it hosts South Dakota in the season opener. The Rams will face the Coyotes on Friday night at 7 p.m., MT in Moby Arena. The match will be the first ticketed event on campus for the 2021-22 season.
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Colorado State will finish the opening weekend facing Northwestern from the Big Ten Conference on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., MT. Both matches will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
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OPPONENTS AT A QUICK GLANCE
- South Dakota will begin the 2021 season facing Northwestern on Friday afternoon in Greeley, Colo., at Northern Colorado.
- The Coyotes will finish their Colorado trip playing the Bears on Saturday evening.
- USD finished the 2020 season (played in 2021 due to COVID-19) with a 15-7 overall record, including a 12-3 mark in conference on its way to a Summit League Championship and a NCAA Tournament appearance.
- South Dakota was down 2-0 against Denver in the conference championship against Denver, before mounting a comeback.
- USD appeared in the postseason tournament for the second time in program history, suffering a sweep against No. 25 Missouri.
- South Dakota was picked to win the Summit League in the Preseason Coaches' Poll and returns two players named to the preseason team with junior outside Elizabeth Juhnke and fifth year outside Sami Slaughter – both earned first-team and all-tournament team honors a year ago.
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- Northwestern will start its 2021 season playing two matches in Greeley, Colo., first against South Dakota on Friday afternoon before facing Northern Colorado that evening.
- The Wildcats posted a 4-6 record in the 2020 season (also played in 2021 due to COVID-19) and missed 12 matches in a Big Ten Conference only schedule.
- NU is picked to finish ninth in the leagues preseason poll, while junior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara was named to the preseason All-Big Ten – the first for the Wildcats since 2013.
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RAMS AT A GLANCE
- Colorado State finished the 2020 season (played in 2021 due to COVID-19) with a 9-6 record, in a schedule that was Mountain West contests only.
- The Rams finished third in the Mountain West standings a year ago and were tabbed to finish third in 2021.
- Senior libero Alexa Roumeliotis was named to the Mountain West Preseason team after picking up All-Mountain West honors a year ago.
- Roumeliotis led the league in digs in 2020 and ranked No. 50 in the country, averaging 4.96.
- CSU returns six starters for 2021, losing senior outside Breana Runnels.
- The Rams added four new faces to the squad for the 2021 season, including two transfers and two freshmen.
- Colorado State welcomed Annie Sullivan, a junior outside from High Point and Malaya Jones, a redshirt freshman middle from Southern California.
- Head Coach Tom Hilbert is one win shy of 600 wins at Colorado State, holding a 599-142 record in 24 season with the Rams.
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UP NEXT
Colorado State will hit the road for a trio of matches next week. The Rams will start the week on Tuesday with a match at Northern Colorado, before heading to North Carolina for matches at North Carolina and NC State on Friday and Saturday, respectfully.
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Colorado State will finish the opening weekend facing Northwestern from the Big Ten Conference on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., MT. Both matches will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
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OPPONENTS AT A QUICK GLANCE
- South Dakota will begin the 2021 season facing Northwestern on Friday afternoon in Greeley, Colo., at Northern Colorado.
- The Coyotes will finish their Colorado trip playing the Bears on Saturday evening.
- USD finished the 2020 season (played in 2021 due to COVID-19) with a 15-7 overall record, including a 12-3 mark in conference on its way to a Summit League Championship and a NCAA Tournament appearance.
- South Dakota was down 2-0 against Denver in the conference championship against Denver, before mounting a comeback.
- USD appeared in the postseason tournament for the second time in program history, suffering a sweep against No. 25 Missouri.
- South Dakota was picked to win the Summit League in the Preseason Coaches' Poll and returns two players named to the preseason team with junior outside Elizabeth Juhnke and fifth year outside Sami Slaughter – both earned first-team and all-tournament team honors a year ago.
----
- Northwestern will start its 2021 season playing two matches in Greeley, Colo., first against South Dakota on Friday afternoon before facing Northern Colorado that evening.
- The Wildcats posted a 4-6 record in the 2020 season (also played in 2021 due to COVID-19) and missed 12 matches in a Big Ten Conference only schedule.
- NU is picked to finish ninth in the leagues preseason poll, while junior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara was named to the preseason All-Big Ten – the first for the Wildcats since 2013.
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RAMS AT A GLANCE
- Colorado State finished the 2020 season (played in 2021 due to COVID-19) with a 9-6 record, in a schedule that was Mountain West contests only.
- The Rams finished third in the Mountain West standings a year ago and were tabbed to finish third in 2021.
- Senior libero Alexa Roumeliotis was named to the Mountain West Preseason team after picking up All-Mountain West honors a year ago.
- Roumeliotis led the league in digs in 2020 and ranked No. 50 in the country, averaging 4.96.
- CSU returns six starters for 2021, losing senior outside Breana Runnels.
- The Rams added four new faces to the squad for the 2021 season, including two transfers and two freshmen.
- Colorado State welcomed Annie Sullivan, a junior outside from High Point and Malaya Jones, a redshirt freshman middle from Southern California.
- Head Coach Tom Hilbert is one win shy of 600 wins at Colorado State, holding a 599-142 record in 24 season with the Rams.
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UP NEXT
Colorado State will hit the road for a trio of matches next week. The Rams will start the week on Tuesday with a match at Northern Colorado, before heading to North Carolina for matches at North Carolina and NC State on Friday and Saturday, respectfully.
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Players Mentioned
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