Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, October 14
Albuquerque, NM
1:00 PM
Colorado State
11-8,5-3Mountain West
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at
0
New Mexico
13-6,5-3Mountain West
1
2
3
F
Colorado St.
25
25
25
3
New Mexico
15
19
23
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Rams Sweep New Mexico on the Road
10/14/2023 4:01:00 PM | Volleyball
Colorado State defense sparks third sweep of the season for the Rams
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Colorado State volleyball team swept the New Mexico Lobos Saturday afternoon, winning 3-0 thanks to heavy production from both middle blockers Karina Leber and Naeemah Weathers, and a strong back row defense.
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Three Rams hit in double-digit kills against New Mexico including Leber with 12, Weathers with 10 and opposite hitter Malaya Jones leading the offense once again with 13 kills.
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As a team, Colorado State hit at a .374 efficiency including Leber and Weathers both hitting over .500. The Rams continue to lead the conference in hitting percentage as they earn their third sweep of the season to move to 5-3 in the Mountain West standings.
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In control through all three sets, the Rams started the day with a 25-15 first set win to set the tone in Albuquerque. With 18 team kills in the first frame alone and hitting at a .378 percentage, Colorado State took the advantage into set two. Going up 2-0, Colorado State won set two 25-19 hitting at an even better efficiency of .444 with 19 kills.
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Senior setter Emery Herman recorded 43 assists on the afternoon as the distributor of Colorado State's offense, putting her stat line just out of the top five in CSU history for total assists in a three-set match. She also added four kills and ten digs across the three-set match.
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While the offense was in rhythm for the Rams, Colorado State's defense was a focal point Saturday afternoon to keep the offense in system. With 45 team digs led by libero Kate Yoshimoto with 15, the ability for Colorado State's back line to allow Herman to distribute the ball with options kept the New Mexico defense guessing and unable to stop the Rams.
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"I think our pass game was pretty on point to be able to give our middle blockers that many opportunities," Head Coach Emily Kohan said post-game. "I thought Kate picked up a ton of great digs. Even when New Mexico went to the off-speed, she was able to clean it up and get balls to Emery in transition. The middles and Emery setting them executed well, but that first contact was very important."
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In the third set, the Lobos attempted to gain some momentum with a late 7-2 run in order to take a 23-19 lead in set three. After Colorado State earned the side-out, fifth-year defensive specialist Anna Porter stepped to the service line determined to end the match in three sets.
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The Rams went on a 6-0 run to close out the third set 25-23 including a service ace from Porter to earn match point.
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"You've got to love seniors in big time situations, and I think a lot of maturity comes out in those moments. For [Porter] to keep the service pressure on them and get the big ace out of the timeout to tie it up says a lot about her and the mature players that she is," Kohan said.
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Within the run, Weathers had two kills and a block assists next to Jones who finished the match with a kill on match point.
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Colorado State held the advantage over the Lobos in every major stat category including kills, hitting percentage, assists, blocks and digs.
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Other major contributors for the Rams included outside hitters Kennedy Stanford and Annie Sullivan who both totaled seven kills while Stanford added three block assists. Yoshimoto and Jones also added two service aces each in the Colorado State win.
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The Rams will return to Moby Arena next week to continue their Mountain West schedule against Fresno State Thursday night at 7 p.m.
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Three Rams hit in double-digit kills against New Mexico including Leber with 12, Weathers with 10 and opposite hitter Malaya Jones leading the offense once again with 13 kills.
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As a team, Colorado State hit at a .374 efficiency including Leber and Weathers both hitting over .500. The Rams continue to lead the conference in hitting percentage as they earn their third sweep of the season to move to 5-3 in the Mountain West standings.
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In control through all three sets, the Rams started the day with a 25-15 first set win to set the tone in Albuquerque. With 18 team kills in the first frame alone and hitting at a .378 percentage, Colorado State took the advantage into set two. Going up 2-0, Colorado State won set two 25-19 hitting at an even better efficiency of .444 with 19 kills.
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Senior setter Emery Herman recorded 43 assists on the afternoon as the distributor of Colorado State's offense, putting her stat line just out of the top five in CSU history for total assists in a three-set match. She also added four kills and ten digs across the three-set match.
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While the offense was in rhythm for the Rams, Colorado State's defense was a focal point Saturday afternoon to keep the offense in system. With 45 team digs led by libero Kate Yoshimoto with 15, the ability for Colorado State's back line to allow Herman to distribute the ball with options kept the New Mexico defense guessing and unable to stop the Rams.
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"I think our pass game was pretty on point to be able to give our middle blockers that many opportunities," Head Coach Emily Kohan said post-game. "I thought Kate picked up a ton of great digs. Even when New Mexico went to the off-speed, she was able to clean it up and get balls to Emery in transition. The middles and Emery setting them executed well, but that first contact was very important."
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In the third set, the Lobos attempted to gain some momentum with a late 7-2 run in order to take a 23-19 lead in set three. After Colorado State earned the side-out, fifth-year defensive specialist Anna Porter stepped to the service line determined to end the match in three sets.
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The Rams went on a 6-0 run to close out the third set 25-23 including a service ace from Porter to earn match point.
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"You've got to love seniors in big time situations, and I think a lot of maturity comes out in those moments. For [Porter] to keep the service pressure on them and get the big ace out of the timeout to tie it up says a lot about her and the mature players that she is," Kohan said.
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Within the run, Weathers had two kills and a block assists next to Jones who finished the match with a kill on match point.
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Colorado State held the advantage over the Lobos in every major stat category including kills, hitting percentage, assists, blocks and digs.
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Other major contributors for the Rams included outside hitters Kennedy Stanford and Annie Sullivan who both totaled seven kills while Stanford added three block assists. Yoshimoto and Jones also added two service aces each in the Colorado State win.
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The Rams will return to Moby Arena next week to continue their Mountain West schedule against Fresno State Thursday night at 7 p.m.
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Team Stats
CSU
UNM
Kills
54
35
Errors
14
15
Attempts
107
99
Hitting %
.374
.202
Points
65.5
43.0
Assists
51
34
Aces
6
5
Blocks
5.5
3
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH/OPP
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
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