Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, September 22
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
9-4,2-0Mountain West
3
vs
0
UNLV
9-3,0-1Mountain West
1
2
3
F
UNLV
15
23
18
0
Colorado St.
25
25
25
3
Rams Win With Epitome of a Clean Sweep
9/22/2022 9:10:00 PM | Volleyball
CSU takes down UNLV for second conference win
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Every coach in America loves a terminal hitter. Someone who can swing fast and hit a ball so hard it makes the hardwood ripple like a rock skipping across a crystal lake.
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Colorado State coach Tom Hilbert certainly does, and he's enjoyed more than a few in his career that led to 800 career victories heading into Thursday's match with UNLV. But he has always stressed to his teams to hit clean. His team was in the Mountain West match, the Rebels were anything but and that's why he now has 801 career victories off a 25-15, 25-23, 25-18 sweep at Moby Arena.
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"Absolutely it is. If you look at the rallies that were more than three or four swings per team, they hit an error," Hilbert said, his team now 2-0 in Mountain West play, 9-4 overall. "That's how they ended it. Guess what? We didn't. We were going up and playing high, we were not getting blocked – we only got blocked five times. They're a good blocking team and a good defensive team, they're keeping the ball alive, but in the long run in those rallies, we were the cleaner team and we won. Now, that's not a pretty way to win, but I don't care."
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For UNLV, the issues started right off the bat. The Rebels had just six kills in the opening set against 12 hitting errors, and at that point, the Rams only had two blocks. As the night wore on, Colorado State's block became even stronger and the Rebels never found the floor with any consistency outside of leading hitter Isabel Martin, who did finish with 16 kills after early struggles.
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Where the Rams' block was most effective was minimalizing UNLV's opposite hitters. As the night wore on, Kennedy Stanford, who Hilbert said had one of her most impressive blocking performances with four total, could sense the frustration growing on the opposite side of the net.
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"Yeah, and more so than anything, they were trying to change up what they were doing to adjust to how big our block was and how we were blocking, and I think that made them uncomfortable," she said. "I think we did a good job of playing clean on our side and doing things that made them uncomfortable, so they were taking swings out of the norm for them and forcing errors. First, I think we served super-tough, so we gave ourselves opportunities to really get in on easier balls when they're out of system and we know where it's going, and I also think we did a great job of solo blocking. When we were alone, we did a good job of taking spaces and really shutting them down."
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Colorado State had a solid blocking night, finishing with nine as Naeemah Weathers finished with five to lead the team. They also dug the ball pretty well and it led to 19 unforced hitting errors for UNLV. To counter, the Rams had just six.
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The Rams were solid on offense, hitting .286 on the night, but the big boost came in the second set when setter Ciera Pritchard, who finished with 27 assists, got the middles more involved to help give Stanford cleaner looks on her way to 11 kills.
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Weathers and Karina Leber both finished with six in the match, both hitting at least .357. Hilbert felt Weathers could hurt them with a quick-tempo attack, and he was right. Leber even became involved in the tactic.
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"Tom is always a stickler about getting up in transition and making sure we're an available option," Weathers said. "Being able to do that and incorporate what he's saying on the court is something we did a good job at tonight."
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But most of all, they didn't do anything to really hurt themselves. If they've heard him tell them to be terminal once, they've heard him tell them to hit clean three times.
Â
Pass well, hit clean, serve tough, staples every team can live by, and the Rams won that way.
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"We were back there digging, we were up there blocking and we were very disciplined in every focus that we wanted to pinpoint tonight," Weathers said. "I think us playing clean contributed to that."
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It may not always look pretty on a highlight reel, but it adds up in the win column.
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Colorado State coach Tom Hilbert certainly does, and he's enjoyed more than a few in his career that led to 800 career victories heading into Thursday's match with UNLV. But he has always stressed to his teams to hit clean. His team was in the Mountain West match, the Rebels were anything but and that's why he now has 801 career victories off a 25-15, 25-23, 25-18 sweep at Moby Arena.
Â
"Absolutely it is. If you look at the rallies that were more than three or four swings per team, they hit an error," Hilbert said, his team now 2-0 in Mountain West play, 9-4 overall. "That's how they ended it. Guess what? We didn't. We were going up and playing high, we were not getting blocked – we only got blocked five times. They're a good blocking team and a good defensive team, they're keeping the ball alive, but in the long run in those rallies, we were the cleaner team and we won. Now, that's not a pretty way to win, but I don't care."
Â
For UNLV, the issues started right off the bat. The Rebels had just six kills in the opening set against 12 hitting errors, and at that point, the Rams only had two blocks. As the night wore on, Colorado State's block became even stronger and the Rebels never found the floor with any consistency outside of leading hitter Isabel Martin, who did finish with 16 kills after early struggles.
Â
Where the Rams' block was most effective was minimalizing UNLV's opposite hitters. As the night wore on, Kennedy Stanford, who Hilbert said had one of her most impressive blocking performances with four total, could sense the frustration growing on the opposite side of the net.
Â
"Yeah, and more so than anything, they were trying to change up what they were doing to adjust to how big our block was and how we were blocking, and I think that made them uncomfortable," she said. "I think we did a good job of playing clean on our side and doing things that made them uncomfortable, so they were taking swings out of the norm for them and forcing errors. First, I think we served super-tough, so we gave ourselves opportunities to really get in on easier balls when they're out of system and we know where it's going, and I also think we did a great job of solo blocking. When we were alone, we did a good job of taking spaces and really shutting them down."
Â
Colorado State had a solid blocking night, finishing with nine as Naeemah Weathers finished with five to lead the team. They also dug the ball pretty well and it led to 19 unforced hitting errors for UNLV. To counter, the Rams had just six.
Â
The Rams were solid on offense, hitting .286 on the night, but the big boost came in the second set when setter Ciera Pritchard, who finished with 27 assists, got the middles more involved to help give Stanford cleaner looks on her way to 11 kills.
Â
Weathers and Karina Leber both finished with six in the match, both hitting at least .357. Hilbert felt Weathers could hurt them with a quick-tempo attack, and he was right. Leber even became involved in the tactic.
Â
"Tom is always a stickler about getting up in transition and making sure we're an available option," Weathers said. "Being able to do that and incorporate what he's saying on the court is something we did a good job at tonight."
Â
But most of all, they didn't do anything to really hurt themselves. If they've heard him tell them to be terminal once, they've heard him tell them to hit clean three times.
Â
Pass well, hit clean, serve tough, staples every team can live by, and the Rams won that way.
Â
"We were back there digging, we were up there blocking and we were very disciplined in every focus that we wanted to pinpoint tonight," Weathers said. "I think us playing clean contributed to that."
Â
It may not always look pretty on a highlight reel, but it adds up in the win column.
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Team Stats
UNLV
CSU
Kills
37
36
Errors
28
11
Attempts
105
98
Hitting %
.086
.255
Points
44
48
Assists
34
31
Aces
2
3
Blocks
5
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
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