Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Utah
Rams fall in four at Utah
9/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Mekana Barnes set two single-match blocking records, but the Rams were unable to hold on for their first road win, falling to Utah 3-1 (30-22, 30-32, 24-30, 33-35) Friday night. Barnes finished with a season-high 23 kills, 19 blocks and hitting .489.
Barnes had 17 block assists and 19 total blocks both records for a single match and a four-game match. Barnes also surpassed 300 career blocks during the match and currently has 312.
"I thought we played very poorly from a hitting point of view," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "We played without a lot of courage tonight. Barnes was great but we can't do it with one player."
The first game began with strong offense from the Rams (7-4, 2-1 MWC). Barnes killed the first three balls she saw. Jaime Strauss was the first Ram on outside to get a kill and she put the Rams up 8-4 with a hard shot cross court. Tonya Mokelki got into the action on the next play by using the Utes block to get her kill and force the Utah timeout. CSU maintained a four point advantaged until CSU extended the lead to six behind the service of libero Katelin Batten.
The Rams' blocking was a factor as usual. CSU tallied eight blocks, including a single-game high seven by Barnes, in Game 1. The energy for the Rams continued as sharp hitting and precise service extended the lead to eight points. The Utes were able to rally briefly but after a timeout CSU settled back into their offensive style. The Rams finished Game 1 with a 12-2 rally.
Barnes was error free in the game hitting a single-game season-high .700 with seven kills to lead all players in the first set. Ashley Fornstrom had 10 assists with a pair of digs in the game.
CSU quietly grabbed the lead in Game 2 after dropping the first two points. The Rams controlled the net with three blocks and a pair of kills to get to a 10-6 advantage. Danielle Minch earned her second kill of the match hitting through the three-man block by the Utes. Utah battled back from down five to take a one-point lead 13-12. After a scrappy rally the Rams tied the score and Jacque Davisson entered the game to serve for CSU.
Strauss gave the Rams the lead on a tip behind the block. Barnes got her tenth kill of the match, pulling down a ball the Utes set up for her. Utah rallied, taking a lead at 28-27. CSU took the lead by a point on a kill by Mokelki for the first game point. The Utes scored a pair of points to force a game point of their own. Mokelki came through for the Rams once more tying the game with a kill cross-court. Utah grabbed the lead with a shot to the deep right corner. Katheryn Haynie, an All-American in 2006, finished the second game and tied the match with a kill.
Batten, who has now had double-digit digs in every MWC match of her career, had seven digs in Game 2 for the Rams.
The tight competition continued in the third game with CSU taking the lead 5-2 after trading points. The Rams had four consecutive blocks as they continued to dominate the net. CSU grabbed a six-point advantage before the Utes battled back to tie the game at nine. Neither team held the lead for long as the teams battled through long rallies. Utah grabbed the lead 20-18, forcing the Rams to dig in. The Utes extended the lead to seven points at 27-20. CSU again relied on the strength of Barnes who killed the ball twice and was in on a block to make the score 27-23. The Utes got the point, but again Barnes nailed the ball out of the middle to give the Rams back the service. Game point was won by the Utes on the block.
Neither team hit well in the game but the Utes held the .001 advantage and had more errors than the Rams. Barnes had six kills and an amazing seven blocks in the game.
The fourth game started slowly for both teams. CSU was the first to take the leading grabbing an initial two-point advantage that they stretched to six 14-8. The Utes used a 10-3 run to take the 18-17 advantage. Utah was able to extend the lead to three points as the Rams defense faltered. Mokelki added some fire to the CSU offense with a kill but the Utes were able to extend the lead once again to four points. On the next play the Rams dug balls and made amazing dives set up the Barnes kill to score. The CSU block again broke the serve for a Ram point. After another long rally Strauss finished one play then killed the ball quickly on the next to pull CSU to within one point.
The teams exchanged points before the Utes forced match-point. A CSU block in the middle sent Strauss to the service line. The 7-11 block for the Rams tied the score. Match-point two was thwarted by a Danielle Minch kill sending Batten to the service line. Barnes gave the Rams game-point on a dump behind the block. The Utes scored twice on kills, forcing match-point three, which Barnes again denied them out of the middle. Another Ute kill forced match-point four which Barnes again quashed with a kill from the middle. Utah returned the favor, tipping the ball behind the block. The fifth match-point was the final one as the Utes block gave them the final point and their first MWC win.
Joining Barnes in double-figure kills was Strauss with 15. Batten led all players with 20 digs and freshman Audrey Hemmings added a career-high 15. Fornstrom finished with her third double-double of the year notching 44 assist and 10 digs.
The Rams finish their first road trip of the MWC season at BYU on Saturday Sept. 22 with the first serve at 7 p.m. The Cougars are currently ranked 17th in the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.
