Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Wyoming
Volleyball Sweeps Second Border War
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2005
The Colorado State volleyball team (13-6, 6-3) swept the second installment of the "Border War" this evening, defeating the Wyoming Cowgirls (7-13, 2-7), 30-20, 30-27, 30-17 at the UniWyo Sports Complex.
Colorado State was led by senior middle blocker Dre Downs with 14 kills, a .542 (14-1-24) hitting percentage and six blocks, while senior outside hitter Casey Bauer notched 10 kills and a match-high 17 digs. Freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom tied her career-high with five kills and established a new career-high with 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Tess Rogers moved into seventh on the career kills chart with nine on the evening, bringing her career total to 1,423. She passes Rainie Rogers (1994-97), who notched 1,422 in her career. Freshman middle blocker Mekana Barnes also tied for match-highs with six blocks on the evening.
"We touch-blocked a lot of balls this evening," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "That allowed our defense to make some great plays and give us a chance to win a lot of rallies. We were much more focused this evening and played a complete match."
Wyoming was led by sophomore outside hitter Rachel Smith with seven kills and 13 digs, while sophomore libero Michelle Weydert chipped in 10 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Samantha Eley had both aces for the Cowgirls and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Scott led the team with three blocks.
Ashley Fornstrom moved into 10th on the career assists chart with her 43 for the evening. She now has 714 assists in her first year with the Rams. That total also is the third most by a freshman in school history. Colorado State hit .280 as a team on the night and held Wyoming to .035. The Rams also out-blocked the Cowgirls 12-7.
The teams started the first game with four straight errors, knotting the score at 2-2. After two kills by Wyoming, the Rams responded with two of their own to again tie the score at 4-4. The Cowgirls took a 7-5 advantage off an Angie Hellbaum kill, then the Rams responded with kills by Downs and Ashley Fornstrom to tie the score for the fourth time at 7-7. The score was again tied at eight and nine before the Rams went on a five-point scoring run, with two blocks by Barnes and Mokelki and two kills by Rogers to take a 14-9 lead. Wyoming answered with two straight but the Rams scored six straight using a balanced attack to lead 20-11. The Cowgirls battled back with a four-point stretch, with a solo block and kill by Scott to close within five at 20-15, but the Rams controlled the remainder of the game, winning 30-20. Downs led the team with five kills as the Rams hit .424 in the first stanza and held Wyoming to .053.
Wyoming scored the first two points of the second game, but Barnes recorded back-to-back kills to tie the score at 2-2. After a Scott kill for the Cowgirls, the Rams scored three straight to take their first lead at 5-3. Wyoming scored four of the next five to take a 7-6 lead when Bauer got a kill to knot the score for the fifth time. The Cowgirls scored six of the next seven with the lone CSU point coming on a Downs kill for a 13-8 UW lead. Barnes and Rogers recorded consecutive kills, then the Cowgirls used a three-point run to take their largest lead at 16-10. After back-to-back CSU points, UW scored three of the next four to lead 19-13. CSU showed grit, scoring a four-point run behind the tough serving of Brittany Fornstrom to close within two at 19-17. After a solo block by Andrea Seele, the Rams scored six of the next seven to take a 23-21 lead. During the rally, Whitney made a great one-armed dig and Ashley Fornstrom recorded back-to-back dumps to give the Rams the lead, which the team never relinquished and went on to win, 30-27. Barnes led the team with five kills, while Bauer chipped in four as the Rams hit .250 and held the Cowgirls to a .120 hitting percentage.
Rogers got a kill to start the third game, but the Cowgirls scored the next three for the early 3-1 lead. Rogers again got a CSU kill, and Scott answered with a kill for a 4-2 Wyo. lead. The Rams responded with three straight points to take a 5-4 lead off a solo block and kill by Downs, but the Cowgirls earned three-straight points to regain the lead at 7-5. With two kills by Downs, a kill by Bauer and an ace by Brittany Fornstrom, the Rams again took a lead, this time at 9-7. Wyoming knotted the score at 9-9, then the Rams used a four point rally to take a four-point advantage. After a Cowgirl timeout, the home team scored three straight to close within one, but the Rams scored five straight behind the serving of Downs to take an 18-12 lead and then after the streak was snapped by Scott, scored four more to lead 22-13. Wyoming managed just four more points in the third game and the Rams closed out the match with three straight blocks by Ashley Fornstrom and Downs to win 30-17.
Colorado State hosts UNLV and San Diego State next weekend, with the Rebels coming to town on Friday and the Aztecs on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
