Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, September 1
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
2-2,0-0Mountain West
0
vs
3
Arkansas
2-1,0-0SEC
1
2
3
F
Arkansas
29
25
25
3
Colorado St.
27
16
11
0
Rams Fall at Home to Arkansas
9/1/2022 9:15:00 PM | Volleyball
Razorbacks' block alters flow of match
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Once Arkansas started blocking, the match changed.
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Colorado State hit .306 in the first set, outblocked their guests served better. The only downside was the 21 kills the Razorbacks put down in taking the opener 27-25.
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After just two blocks in that first set, Arkansas answered with three early in the second, and the Rams' offense became a bit more tentative and less creative as the Razorbacks would go on to finish the sweep with 25-16, 25-11 decisions.
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"They made some mistakes and cleaned their game up toward the end. We did have some opportunities to win it, and we have to take care of that stuff at the end of the sets," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "I don't know what we were looking for in the second and third games. We lost that first one … Let's be real, Arkansas is very good, but we lost complete focus offensively. We had nothing. I don't understand it, because Arkansas is good, but they're not so good we should complete lose all offense."
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The easy answer would be to point at the loss of Malaya Jones to the lineup the past two matches, both losses. And Jacqi Van Liefde is gutting it out playing with an injured finger, which occurred while blocking.
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Hilbert thinks there are easy fixes, but injuries are just a part, not the root.
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A bit of confidence and focus would go a long way. There are lapses in serve receive and passing at times, so consistency would help, too. At one point in the third set, Hilbert said the back row delivered three perfect passes in a row, yet none of them produced a kill.
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Arkansas' block had a bit to do with that, five each in the final two sets.
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"It definitely disrupts your offense a little bit," said Kennedy Stanford, who led the Rams with 10 kills and is the only player on roster with a double-figure total in each game. "We were trying to go out there and take big swings, and I think we still did a good job of taking swings after getting blocked. Eventually, we have to turn that into getting kills even though they're a good blocking team."
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Alyssa Groves made her second start on the opposite with Jones out of the lineup, and she came out hot.
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She had five kills in the first set on eight swings yet had just one more kill on nine attacks the rest of the night. For her, it was a momentary step forward.
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"I think we kind of maybe got out of rhythm there, and maybe the set just wasn't there for me," she said. "The first set I had more opportunities because the passes were there. Especially from Tuesday night, my big word for my game is confidence and aggressiveness and I really came out. I thought I played really aggressive and confident."
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Arkansas just kept firing away. It had four players with at least eight kills, led by outside hitter Jillian Gillen. She's listed at 5-foot-7, which is accurate, but it didn't tell her ability to rise off the floor and take big, aggressive swings to the tune of 14 kills. Taylor Head finished with 11 for the Razorbacks, and opposite hitter Maggie Cartwright put up six blocks to go with her eight kills., a block total matched by middle Tatum Shipes.
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Kennedy felt the up-tempo offense they used enabled the Razorbacks to turn the tide when it came to blocking and get around the wall CSU had put up so effectively in the first set.
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Colorado State came out fine in the third set, but Hilbert felt a couple of silly mistakes got his team down and allowed the guests to go on some decisive point runs. Point blank, he said that has to change. In a lot of ways, he said his team has to grow up and stand tall against adversity.
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"We all do," he said.
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Colorado State has two more home matches the next two nights to close out a season-opening six-match home stand. Then it's on the road to Baylor, where the Rams will see the Bears, Evansville and Arizona State before a home-and-home set with Colorado.
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The road isn't getting any easier. Hilbert said his team just has to get tougher, more focused and do it consistently.
Â
His team can see it, too.
Â
"I feel like we definitely show moments where we have that consistency," Groves said. "We have to find a way to persevere and get through that as well."
Â
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Colorado State hit .306 in the first set, outblocked their guests served better. The only downside was the 21 kills the Razorbacks put down in taking the opener 27-25.
Â
After just two blocks in that first set, Arkansas answered with three early in the second, and the Rams' offense became a bit more tentative and less creative as the Razorbacks would go on to finish the sweep with 25-16, 25-11 decisions.
Â
"They made some mistakes and cleaned their game up toward the end. We did have some opportunities to win it, and we have to take care of that stuff at the end of the sets," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "I don't know what we were looking for in the second and third games. We lost that first one … Let's be real, Arkansas is very good, but we lost complete focus offensively. We had nothing. I don't understand it, because Arkansas is good, but they're not so good we should complete lose all offense."
Â
The easy answer would be to point at the loss of Malaya Jones to the lineup the past two matches, both losses. And Jacqi Van Liefde is gutting it out playing with an injured finger, which occurred while blocking.
Â
Hilbert thinks there are easy fixes, but injuries are just a part, not the root.
Â
A bit of confidence and focus would go a long way. There are lapses in serve receive and passing at times, so consistency would help, too. At one point in the third set, Hilbert said the back row delivered three perfect passes in a row, yet none of them produced a kill.
Â
Arkansas' block had a bit to do with that, five each in the final two sets.
Â
"It definitely disrupts your offense a little bit," said Kennedy Stanford, who led the Rams with 10 kills and is the only player on roster with a double-figure total in each game. "We were trying to go out there and take big swings, and I think we still did a good job of taking swings after getting blocked. Eventually, we have to turn that into getting kills even though they're a good blocking team."
Â
Alyssa Groves made her second start on the opposite with Jones out of the lineup, and she came out hot.
Â
She had five kills in the first set on eight swings yet had just one more kill on nine attacks the rest of the night. For her, it was a momentary step forward.
Â
"I think we kind of maybe got out of rhythm there, and maybe the set just wasn't there for me," she said. "The first set I had more opportunities because the passes were there. Especially from Tuesday night, my big word for my game is confidence and aggressiveness and I really came out. I thought I played really aggressive and confident."
Â
Arkansas just kept firing away. It had four players with at least eight kills, led by outside hitter Jillian Gillen. She's listed at 5-foot-7, which is accurate, but it didn't tell her ability to rise off the floor and take big, aggressive swings to the tune of 14 kills. Taylor Head finished with 11 for the Razorbacks, and opposite hitter Maggie Cartwright put up six blocks to go with her eight kills., a block total matched by middle Tatum Shipes.
Â
Kennedy felt the up-tempo offense they used enabled the Razorbacks to turn the tide when it came to blocking and get around the wall CSU had put up so effectively in the first set.
Â
Colorado State came out fine in the third set, but Hilbert felt a couple of silly mistakes got his team down and allowed the guests to go on some decisive point runs. Point blank, he said that has to change. In a lot of ways, he said his team has to grow up and stand tall against adversity.
Â
"We all do," he said.
Â
Colorado State has two more home matches the next two nights to close out a season-opening six-match home stand. Then it's on the road to Baylor, where the Rams will see the Bears, Evansville and Arizona State before a home-and-home set with Colorado.
Â
The road isn't getting any easier. Hilbert said his team just has to get tougher, more focused and do it consistently.
Â
His team can see it, too.
Â
"I feel like we definitely show moments where we have that consistency," Groves said. "We have to find a way to persevere and get through that as well."
Â
Team Stats
Ark
CSU
Kills
49
28
Errors
14
19
Attempts
110
102
Hitting %
.318
.088
Points
64
38.5
Assists
46
26
Aces
3
3
Blocks
12
7.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
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