Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, September 11
Fort Collins, CO
1:00 PM
Colorado State
4-3,0-0Mountain West
3
vs
1
UAB
-34,00 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
UAB
26
15
14
17
1
Colorado St.
24
25
25
25
3
Weekend a Sweeping Success for Rams
9/11/2021 4:27:00 PM | Volleyball
Team takes down UAB for third win in two days
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Long weekends are hard. And with two games already packed away on an active Friday, the Saturday contest for Colorado State volleyball was going to be a tough one.
Â
UAB took the lead early, fronting the Rams for most of the first set. Frustrating? Maybe. But according to senior Alexa Roumeliotis, it's the nature of the way volleyball is played.
Â
"It's been a long weekend," she said. "Both teams have played two games before this, so our mentality was 'we have to come out with more energy than they did.' And I think all the way through, we really did that, and that was our main goal."
Â
So, the teams tied up the first set over and over again. With every point the Blazers took for themselves, Colorado State would match it despite eventually dropping the first set 26-24.
Â
But it was just a warm-up for the team. The second set returned the Rams back to their previous weekend performance, sporting a 7-1 scoring run in the second set, and much like yesterday's matches, they just kept adding to the margin until they took the second set 25-15, then eventually, the match, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17).
Â
With the first two sets out of the way and each lineup taking a win, the stakes were high. Both teams wanted it, both teams knew they could take it, all it came down to was composure and a battle of willpower and teamwork.
Â
"I think whenever you're splitting games with the other team, the third set is really a game changer," Roumeliotis said. "We took the mentality of 'hey let's go out there and take some big swings, let's take some risk,' and we really played hard in that set. I think that is why we won that set and the fourth set."
Â
After a fight with each team hanging on to 12 points, it would've been easy to let UAB take the third set. After all, there are always more sets to play. But that's not what volleyball is about. The Rams cleaned up their game, and they reaped the benefits with a six-point scoring run to end the set.
Â
And to end the long weekend, CSU was ready to seal the fate of UAB. The fourth set was over just as quickly as it started, putting down the Blazers for a fourth consecutive victory.
Â
And just like Friday, coach Tom Hilbert is pleased with the performance. The team kept up a hitting percentage of .462 and .536 in the final two sets, leading up to a match percentage of .325.
Â
"It was really good," Hilbert said. "The first set we had a chance to win, we just hit the ball out of bounds way too many times. That was the first set all weekend where we've had that kind of an error-fest. We've been playing with great maturity and we came back in set two, three, and four and didn't hit errors, kept our serving game on them, and it worked out well for us."
Â
And even though the first set was riddled with eight hitting errors, it shows Hilbert what he wants to see: Aggressive playing.
Â
"We were fine after the first set," he said. "I want them to be more aggressive, so sometimes I want them to hit a few more errors. We need to be aggressive and swing at balls, and we were at the end of this set. I'm happy they were aggressive. I think we're in pretty good shape."
Â
Individually, Colorado State put up impressive statistics. Ciera Pritchard, who tallied 35 assists, four service aces and a hitting percentage of .600, and Annie Sullivan, who had 10 kills on the day and scored 12 points for the Rams were both stand-out players on the court.
Â
Joining in their success was sophomore Kennedy Stanford, who accumulated 17 kills, just two shy of her 2021 season-best and exceeding her 2020 season high, which is a huge turnaround from her performance against Oregon State on Saturday night.
Â
"You know, I had a rough night last night," Stanford said. "This was a good rebound. I was seeing the court obviously, and a good night's rest gives you fresher legs. It felt good to get out there and swing high and hard."
Â
And walking away with three crucial wins and extending their winning streak does wonders for the team's confidence, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.
Â
Facing rival Colorado on Thursday and Saturday requires the Rams to find their mojo, and the rapid succession of small victories this weekend locks in their tenacity.
Â
"These last three matches have been the best three matches of the season," Roumeliotis said. "Just having that confidence boost going into conference with three really good, solid wins under our belt is going to be really important for us."
Â
Â
Â
Â
UAB took the lead early, fronting the Rams for most of the first set. Frustrating? Maybe. But according to senior Alexa Roumeliotis, it's the nature of the way volleyball is played.
Â
"It's been a long weekend," she said. "Both teams have played two games before this, so our mentality was 'we have to come out with more energy than they did.' And I think all the way through, we really did that, and that was our main goal."
Â
So, the teams tied up the first set over and over again. With every point the Blazers took for themselves, Colorado State would match it despite eventually dropping the first set 26-24.
Â
But it was just a warm-up for the team. The second set returned the Rams back to their previous weekend performance, sporting a 7-1 scoring run in the second set, and much like yesterday's matches, they just kept adding to the margin until they took the second set 25-15, then eventually, the match, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17).
Â
With the first two sets out of the way and each lineup taking a win, the stakes were high. Both teams wanted it, both teams knew they could take it, all it came down to was composure and a battle of willpower and teamwork.
Â
"I think whenever you're splitting games with the other team, the third set is really a game changer," Roumeliotis said. "We took the mentality of 'hey let's go out there and take some big swings, let's take some risk,' and we really played hard in that set. I think that is why we won that set and the fourth set."
Â
After a fight with each team hanging on to 12 points, it would've been easy to let UAB take the third set. After all, there are always more sets to play. But that's not what volleyball is about. The Rams cleaned up their game, and they reaped the benefits with a six-point scoring run to end the set.
Â
And to end the long weekend, CSU was ready to seal the fate of UAB. The fourth set was over just as quickly as it started, putting down the Blazers for a fourth consecutive victory.
Â
And just like Friday, coach Tom Hilbert is pleased with the performance. The team kept up a hitting percentage of .462 and .536 in the final two sets, leading up to a match percentage of .325.
Â
"It was really good," Hilbert said. "The first set we had a chance to win, we just hit the ball out of bounds way too many times. That was the first set all weekend where we've had that kind of an error-fest. We've been playing with great maturity and we came back in set two, three, and four and didn't hit errors, kept our serving game on them, and it worked out well for us."
Â
And even though the first set was riddled with eight hitting errors, it shows Hilbert what he wants to see: Aggressive playing.
Â
"We were fine after the first set," he said. "I want them to be more aggressive, so sometimes I want them to hit a few more errors. We need to be aggressive and swing at balls, and we were at the end of this set. I'm happy they were aggressive. I think we're in pretty good shape."
Â
Individually, Colorado State put up impressive statistics. Ciera Pritchard, who tallied 35 assists, four service aces and a hitting percentage of .600, and Annie Sullivan, who had 10 kills on the day and scored 12 points for the Rams were both stand-out players on the court.
Â
Joining in their success was sophomore Kennedy Stanford, who accumulated 17 kills, just two shy of her 2021 season-best and exceeding her 2020 season high, which is a huge turnaround from her performance against Oregon State on Saturday night.
Â
"You know, I had a rough night last night," Stanford said. "This was a good rebound. I was seeing the court obviously, and a good night's rest gives you fresher legs. It felt good to get out there and swing high and hard."
Â
And walking away with three crucial wins and extending their winning streak does wonders for the team's confidence, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.
Â
Facing rival Colorado on Thursday and Saturday requires the Rams to find their mojo, and the rapid succession of small victories this weekend locks in their tenacity.
Â
"These last three matches have been the best three matches of the season," Roumeliotis said. "Just having that confidence boost going into conference with three really good, solid wins under our belt is going to be really important for us."
Â
Â
Â
Team Stats
UAB
CSU
Kills
46
56
Errors
24
17
Attempts
117
120
Hitting %
.188
.325
Points
54
79
Assists
43
51
Aces
4
11
Blocks
4
12
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
9
Players Mentioned
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballCSU Volleyball Players Press Conference - August 6
Thursday, August 07
Emily Kohan Press Conference - August 6
Thursday, August 07
Colorado State Volleyball: Building Champions to Win Championship
Monday, May 05
2024 Colorado State Volleyball
Thursday, February 13