CSU Volleyball Faces Rival In First Round

Nov. 30, 2005

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Series History: Colorado This will be the 30th meeting between Colorado State and Colorado. The two teams have met at least once in every year of both teams existence. The Rams hold the 18-11 advantage in the all-time series and the Rams have won seven of the last eight matches, including 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament. Colorado State is 11-4 against the Buffaloes in Fort Collins.

NCAA Tournament History: This is the 11th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament for Colorado State and the Rams sport a 15-16 record in the postseason tournament. This is the fifth time in the last seven years the Rams have hosted the First and Second Rounds and CSU is 10-1 all-time in Moby Arena during the NCAA Tournament.

Make It Eleven: Colorado State earned an at-large berth into its 11th straight NCAA Tournament after posting a 20-8 record thus far. The Rams also were awarded a host site and will play in-state rival Colorado in the first round on Friday. This is the fifth time in the last seven years the Rams have hosted the NCAA Tournament in Moby Arena.

Tournament Time: 2005 marks the 11th straight season Colorado State has advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the 17th time overall. The Rams 11 straight trips is the 11th longest streak in the NCAA. Only Penn State, Stanford and UC Santa Barbara have been to all 25 NCAA Tournaments. The 17 total trips is also tied for the 13th most in history with Texas A&M.

All-Tournament: Junior libero Katherine Whitney was named the libero of the Mountain West Tournament after averaging 6.17 digs per game over the two matches. She tallied 17 digs against New Mexico in the quarterfinals and then notched 20 against Utah in the semifinals. She also had one ace and six assists.

All-Conference: At the annual Mountain West Conference awards banquet, the three Colorado State seniors were named to the All-Conference team. Outside hitter Tess Rogers earned her third straight award and fourth award after being freshman of the year in 2002. Middle blocker Dre Downs earned her second consecutive award and outside hitter Casey Bauer was named for the first time in her career.

Against The Field: Colorado State has faced four other teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. The Rams went 2-1 against Utah, 1-1 against BYU, 1-0 against Florida A&M and 0-1 against Pepperdine.

MWC Tournament Recap: Colorado State went 1-1 in the Mountain West Tournament, sweeping New Mexico in the quarterfinals and losing to eventual champion Utah in the semifinals. Casey Bauer and sophomore right-side hitter Tonya Mokelki each had 10 kills against the Lobos, while Tess Rogers led with 17 against Utah. Freshman setter Ashley Fornstrom netted a career-high five aces and freshman middle blocker Mekana Barnes tied her career-high with nine blocks against UNM, while Katherine Whitney had 17 digs and followed with 20 against Utah.

Magic Number: 2005 is the 11th straight season the Colorado State volleyball team has won at least 20 matches in a year. This is also the 17th time in the school's 28-year history the Rams have won 20 or more matches. The CSU record for wins in a season is 32 by the 2000 team and three times in school history (1999, 2000, 2003) the Rams have eclipsed the 30-win plateau.

Dominant Days: Dre Downs has been extremely effective as of late. In the last five matches, she is second on the team with 3.40 kills per game and is hitting at a .500 clip (51-11-80). The senior is also averaging 1.27 blocks per game over that stretch. As a team, the Rams have hit .303 over the last five matches with 3.70 blocks per game, while holding opponents to just .097.

Block Party: Colorado State has five players with at least 75 blocks on the season for just the fourth time in school history. In 1999, 2000 and 2001 the Rams had five players with 75 or more blocks and in 2000, four of those five had more than 100. This season, both Dre Downs and Mekana Barnes are over 100, while Ashley Fornstrom is six shy of the century mark.

Kat Like Reflexes: Katherine Whitney has 422 digs this season, which ranks third on the CSU single-season charts and she is on pace to become the first Ram to average over four digs per game for a season as she currently averages 4.18 per game. She is 16 digs shy of the school record of 437 digs by Carrie Appleman in 1992. Whitney has been in double figures in digs in the last seven matches and has tallied 20 or more in four of the last nine matches and is averaging 5.42 digs per game over the last seven matches.

Ace In The Hole: Colorado State has had at least one service ace in all 28 matches this season and in the last 35 matches. The Rams have been serving well of late, notching at least seven aces in eight the last nine matches, averaging 2.16 aces per game over that stretch.

Going The Distance: Only two players, Tonya Mokelki and Katherine Whitney, have played in all 101 games for the Rams this season. The three seniors, Casey Bauer, Dre Downs and Tess Rogers have played in 100 games each. Last season, the Rams had three players (Melissa Courtney, Bri Frech, Kristen Karlik) play in all of the team's 103 games.

The Kat's Out of the Bag: Katherine Whitney has tallied 20 or more digs in five matches this season, tying the school record for the most in one year (Carrie Appleman in 1992). Appleman also holds the career record with nine matches of at least 20 digs. Whitney's five matches of 20 or more digs is tied for the third most in school history.

Its In The Block: There is a quite a difference for Colorado State in its wins and losses regarding the block. When the Rams win, they are averaging 3.93 blocks per game, while in the losses, the Rams are at 2.40 blocks per game.

Shoring Up The Serving: In September, Colorado State had 51 aces (1.19 per game) and 131 errors for a ratio of 1 ace to 2.57 errors. In October, the Rams had 36 aces (1.38 per game) and 70 errors for a ratio of 1:1.94. In November, the Rams have 69 aces (2.16 per game) and 92 errors for a ratio of 1:1.33.

Aces Wild: Both Katherine Whitney and Ashley Fornstrom have more than 30 aces this year, marking the seventh consecutive season the Rams have had at least a pair with 30 or more points from the service line.

Tough Defense: Colorado State has held seven opponents to below .100 hitting for the match, including three of the last four matches. The Rams rank second in the Mountain West, allowing opponents to hit just .156 on the season, including a .097 mark in the last five matches, and are just behind league leader Utah at .151.

You Can Only Hope To Contain: Five different Rams have led the team in kills during a match this season (Tess Rogers 10, Casey Bauer 9, Dre Downs 8, Mekana Barnes 2, Tonya Mokelki), while five have reached double figure kills at least once this season and the three seniors have, at least twice each, tallied 20 or more kills in a match this year. The Rams are second in the Mountain West Conference with 16.09 kills per game, just off the leader, BYU at 16.10.

Quite A Threat: For just the sixth time in school history the Rams have five players with more than 200 kills in a season and the first time since 2001. The Rams are the only team in the Mountain West Conference this season to have all five hitters average over 2.25 kills per game.

Passing Fancy: Katherine Whitney has received 607 serves this season with just 17 errors, for a 97.2 reception percentage. Casey Bauer is next in reception percentage, receiving a team-high 626 errors with a 93.4 reception percentage.

Setting Them Up: Ashley Fornstrom ranks ninth on the CSU career assists chart and now has the third most by a freshman in school history with 1,126. Her 11.61 assists per game also ranks second on the freshman charts at CSU, seventh on the CSU career charts and 18th on the single-season charts. She also is tied for sixth on the freshman blocks chart with 94, ninth on the freshman charts with 1.98 digs per game, third with 0.32 aces per game and fifth with 0.97 blocks per game.

Balanced Attack: CSU is the only team in the Mountain West to have all five hitters average at least 2.25 kills per game (Tess Rogers 3.62, Casey Bauer 3.43, Dre Downs 3.18, Tonya Mokelki 2.46 and Mekana Barnes 2.29). The Rams are also the only team in the conference to have three players average over three kills per game. Wyoming has five hitters averaging over 2.00 kills per game, but just three over 2.25 kills per contest.

Moby Maniacs: Colorado State ranks 19th in the national attendance figures released this week. The Rams average 1,543 fans each match in Moby Arena, and have posted a 12-2 record at home this season. Hawai'i leads the way in attendance, averaging 7,302 fans.

Wide Receivers: Colorado State is allowing opponents to serve just 1.03 aces per game (104 aces, 101 games). That total is the fifth lowest in school history. Last season's team holds the record with just 0.87 aces per game (90a-103g), while in 2000 the team allowed 0.94 (121a-129g), 2001 was 0.95 (105a-111g) and in 1999 the team allowed 1.00 aces per game (117a-117g).

Ms. Rogers Neighborhood: Tess Rogers moved into second in Mountain West history with 1,542 kills and needs 79 for the conference record (1,620, Kim Turner, Utah, 2000-03). In conference only matches, Rogers finished her career second in career kills with 712. She passed Delavane Diaz of Air Force, who tallied 698 from 2000-03. Turner holds the record with 726 kills.

Leaps and Bounds: Tess Rogers and Dre Downs have climbed up the career charts quite a bit this year. Rogers has moved up six spots on the solo blocks chart from 14th to eighth with 69 solo stops. She has climbed six spots in the career attacks chart to fifth with 3,717 and has moved up five spots on the career kills chart to seventh with 1,542. Downs has moved up 12 spots on the block assists chart to fourth with 380, up five spots to 13th in blocks per game with 1.02, up 11 in total blocks to 6th with 424 and up six spots in career kills to 13th with 1,174.

How Grand: The second point of the first game against Texas Tech was Dre Downs' 1,000th career kill. She becomes the 17th player in school history to pass the one grand mark and is now 13th on the career charts with 1,156 kills. She also becomes the third player in the Mountain West this season to surpass 1,000 kills and the 17th player in league history, with six being Rams.

Thrice Honored: Colorado State has had three student-athletes earn player of the week honors this season. Katherine Whitney was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Nov. 14. Whitney averaged 5.22 digs and 0.78 aces per game, while totaling eight assists. Ashley Fornstrom earned Mountain West Player of the Week on Oct. 31 after a split with TCU and Wyoming. For the week, Fornstrom averaged 12.25 assists, 2.75 digs and 1.25 kills per game, with a hitting percentage of .529 (10-1-17). She also had a total of six blocks (one solo, five assists) and a service ace. Casey Bauer was named the Mountain West Player of the Week after leading the Rams to a pair of victories at San Diego State and UNLV. For the week, Bauer averaged 5.57 kills and 2.71 digs per game, while hitting .360 (39-8-86). She also totaled six blocks and three aces, earning her first career award.

Nationally Ranked: In the NCAA statistics through Nov. 20, Colorado State ranks 10th in blocks per game (3.44) and Dre Downs ranks 20th in blocks per game with 1.52.

News & Notes:
* The 30 block assists against New Mexico in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament is the third most in school history for a three-game match and the 15.0 total blocks ties for 14th.
* Mekana Barnes is currently 19th on the single-season block assists chart with 111. With two more she will tie for 18th, three more will tie for 17th, five more to tie for 16th, six more to tie for 14th, seven to tie for 13th and nine to tie for 12th.
* Barnes needs eight total blocks for second on the school's freshman charts.
* Casey Bauer recorded her 700th kill against New Mexico and now has 711.
* Bauer needs two digs for 400.
* Ashley Fornstrom needs 15 assists to move into 18th on the single-season assists chart.
* Fornstrom needs eight digs for her 200th.
* Fornstrom also needs six blocks for her 100th.
* Dre Downs needs 10 block assists for 2nd on the single-season charts.
* Downs needs two blocks for seventh on the single-season charts.
* Downs needs nine block assists to take over third on the career chart.
* Downs needs seven total blocks to rank fifth in career history.
* Tonya Mokelki is just five kills shy of 300.
* Mokelki also needs two blocks for 100.
* Tess Rogers needs eight kills for 1,550 in her career and nine to move into sixth on the CSU career charts.
* Rogers is four blocks shy of 250 for her career.
* Katherine Whitney needs 12 digs for second and 16 digs for the CSU single-season record.
* Whitney recorded her 900th career dig against Utah and now has 919.

Scouting The Opposition: Colorado: The Buffaloes are making their third straight and 15th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They finished fifth in the Big 12 and are 15-12 on the year with a 10-10 record in conference play. Both CU and Colorado State have played Texas Tech this season with the Rams sweeping the Red Raiders and the Buffaloes splitting their regular season meetings.
Senior right-side hitter Allie Griffin leads the Buffs with 4.64 kills per game, while junior middle blocker Lara Bossow is hitting a team-best .368 on the year. Junior setter Ashley Nu'u is averaging 13.23 assists this season, while redshirt freshman Alex Buth leads the team with 0.35 aces a contest. Sophomore outside hitter Amber Sutherland leads with 2.70 digs per game and is one of four players to average over two digs a contest, and freshman middle blocker Lauren Schaefer leads with 0.88 blocks per game.
As a team, Colorado is hitting .263 on the year with 15.82 kills, 14.92 assists, 1.15 aces, 13.35 digs and 2.25 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .239 with 14.77 kills, 13.66 assists, 1.34 aces, 11.54 digs and 3.07 blocks per game.
Pi'i Aiu is in his ninth season as the head coach at Colorado. He sports a career record of 163-103 and is 2-8 all-time against Colorado State.

On the Other Side: Washington is the number three team in the nation and sports a record of 26-1 this season with the only loss coming at the hands of UCLA in five games. The are the third seed overall in the NCAA Tournament and the number one seed in the College Station Regional. The Huskies are making their fourth straight and 10th overall trip to the NCAA Tournament. In 2002, the Rams and Huskies met in the First Round at the University of Hawai'i with Washington winning in four games. Colorado State is 2-3 all-time against the Huskies.
Siena is the champion of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a record of 20-11. The Saints will be making their first appearance in a decade and just their second overall in the NCAA Tournament after earning their conference's automatic berth. Colorado State and Siena have never met in volleyball.

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