Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
San Diego State
Volleyball recap: No. 18 CSU captures first conference home match
9/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2010
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By Kaitlyn Comiskey
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The CSU Rams took sole possession of first place within the Mountain West Conference on Thursday night, after an exciting five-set win against the San Diego State Aztecs – 25-15, 20-25, 25-10, 19-25, 15-9.
The No. 18 Rams now stand at 13-2, 3-0 in the MWC, while the Aztecs fall to 7-8, 2-1 in the MWC.
The Rams came out in strong fashion in the first set, serving well and racking up five aces. On the other end of the court, the Aztecs didn’t help their cause, totaling only one ace and four service errors. San Diego State began the set with a missed serve, setting up the Rams for a short run. Senior Jacque Davisson helped the Rams to a 3-0 lead by tallying a big solo block against the Aztecs. Davisson, Dana Cranston and Danielle Minch all contributed one ace in Set 1, and libero Audrey Hemmings added two more off of her jump-float serve. Minch went on a three-kill run toward the end of the set to help CSU take the first set, 25-15.
“I thought Danielle Minch was really good, outstanding,” said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. “She hit very smart. I think when she is seeing the block, she does very well.”
Set 2 proved to be more of a challenge for the Rams, as SDSU came out and quickly claimed a 7-2 lead, forcing a CSU timeout. A sharp kill off of a slide from middle blocker Megan Plourde, followed by an Aztec net violation, brought the Rams within four points. Yet from there they failed to execute. Serve receive struggles made it difficult for CSU to run an aggressive offense, as the Rams only hit .061 in the second set, falling to San Diego State, 25-20.
The Rams returned from the locker room with rekindled fire, tallying their largest single-set point differential for the season yet, defeating the Aztecs in Set 3, 25-10. CSU put up some big blocks in the third set, with right-side hitter Katelyn Steffan contributing two block assists, and sophomore Brieon Paige adding three more. The Rams’ blocking efforts held the Aztecs to a meager -.192 hitting percentage on the set. Steffan also notched three kills in Set 3, one being a hard-hit quick out of the middle to give the Rams a commanding lead of 20-9. Cranston served up her second ace of the night to win the third set.
San Diego State wasn’t ready to give up quite yet, as it swiftly jumped to an 11-5 lead in Set 4. The Rams continued to fight, and a big kill from Minch brought CSU within five points. But a CSU service error shortly followed, leaving the Rams struggling to even the score, and eventually leading to their loss of the fourth set, 25-19. More struggles within the Rams’ offense, some unclosed blocks, and three service errors, contributed to the loss.
“We were serving pretty tough,” commented Hilbert. “We were passing pretty well, but in Game 2 and Game 4 we softened up a little bit in serving and they got some momentum.”
Yet the Rams responded with vigor once again in Set 5. Two back-to-back kills out of the middle from Plourde gave the Rams a 2-1 lead, and an ace from Hemmings extended their lead to 5-3. Hemmings ended the night with three service aces and 19 digs, with nine of those digs in the first set alone. Minch’s tool off of an Aztec block won switch-point for CSU, eventually setting up fellow outside hitter Davisson for two consecutive kills to take the match, 15-8.
Minch led the team with 16 kills on the night, and a hitting percentage of .385. Steffan also hit .500 and tallied six kills. As a team the Rams hit .237, and totaled 60 digs.
The Rams do not compete this weekend, but are back in action Oct. 7 at Air Force, and Oct. 9 at UNLV.
