Nov. 22, 2008

Final Stats

Final Stats

By Josh Kruger
Athletic Media Relations

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The Colorado State women's volleyball team put up a very valiant effort in its attempt to win the Mountain West Conference regular season championship for the seventh time since 1999, however they ran into a Utah team running on all cylinders and fell just short, losing a hard fought four set match (25-18, 25-27, 18-25, 23-25) on Saturday.

Coming off of a heartbreaking five set loss to BYU on Thursday, the Rams (22-5, 12-4 MWC) knew they'd be in for a tough match against Utah (22-5, 14-2 MWC) with the winner claiming the conference title. As well as the Rams played, they just couldn't find a way to overcome a very tough opponent.

"This was a very, very good match," Head Coach Tom Hilbert said afterwards. "It was just one of those deals where we ran into a team that is always fired up and always prepared. They'll always come ready for battle."

In the first set, a big combined block by All-American senior Mekana Barnes and outside hitter Danielle Minch gave the Rams an early 3-2 lead. After some back and forth action, with neither team showing any dominance, the Rams took control of the set when, trailing 10-9, the team went on a 13-3 run to take a 22-13 lead. Using a combination of great defense, some huge kills by Minch and some mistakes by the Utes, the Rams never trailed again en route to their first set win. The Utes made it close, going on a 4-0 run late in the set, however kills by redshirt freshman Katelyn Steffan and redshirt junior Tessa Nelson closed out the set. The stars of the set were Minch who posted six kills and a .625 hitting percentage, and senior Ashley Fornstrom, who dished out 13 assists. As a team, the Rams hit at a .265 clip with four blocks and held the Utes to a .152 hitting percentage.

Utah began the second set showing that they will not go away easily, taking an early 6-3 lead, before Barnes came up with a big kill to bring the momentum back on to CSU's side. Minch continued her dominating performance, coming up with three kills sandwiched around blocks by Nelson and Steffan to give the Rams an 11-7 lead. With a very pro-Utah crowd cheering them on, the Utes clawed their way back into the set, eventually tying the score at 24. After CSU failed to convert on a set point, Utah gained a set point of their own, at 26-25. A furious rally followed, with both teams coming up with tremendous digs and blocks before Utah senior outside hitter Kathryn Haynie put away a kill sending the crowd into a frenzy and the teams into the locker rooms tied at one set apiece. Once again, Minch was the key player for the Rams, putting up another six kills in the set.

"Game two was critical," Hilbert said. "We made some ball handling errors which we shouldn't have done, but our team battled this entire match."

Coming out of the break, the Rams seemed like a team possessed, winning seven of the first nine points of the third set and getting contributions from just about everyone on the floor. Once again, however, the Utes wouldn't give up without a fight, putting together a 7-1 run of their own to take a 9-8 lead before Hilbert was forced to call timeout and calm down his team. Coming out of the timeout, however, the Utes continued their strong play, winning eight of the next 13 points to take a 17-13 lead. Unfortunately for the Rams, the Utes simply had too much momentum and went on take the set 25-18. The story of the set was the Utah's success in defending the Colorado State offense, as they held the Rams to a .000 hitting percentage in the set with three total team blocks added in for good measure.

With their backs up against the wall for the second straight match, the Rams knew that they would have to play some of their best volleyball of the season in the fourth set in order to claim the conference. It was the Utes, however, who got off to a quick start in the set, winning the first three points before the Rams got on the board. After the teams traded the next 11 points, Fornstrom came up with consecutive blocks to give the Rams a 9-8 lead. After Utah retook the lead, Nelson came up with a big kill to tie the set at 12 and give the Rams new life. A service ace by Minch gave the Rams a 15-13 lead and, for the first time since the first set, it seemed as if momentum was slowly starting to creep back onto CSU's side. That feeling was shortlived, however, as the Utes won the next four points to take a 17-15 lead.

With the crowd sensing an imminent championship, the Rams tried to rally around senior setter Fornstrom, who appeared to twist her ankle but remained in the match. Every time the Rams seemed to be in position to put a point away, however, the Utes somehow found a way to come up with a miraculous dig to keep the point alive before coming up with their own kills to incite an already boisterous crowd. The Rams wouldn't give up, and went on a 3-0 run to close to within 22-21 before Utah head coach Beth Launiere called a timeout. After Minch tied the match up at 22, the Utes scored the next two points to come to their first championship point. A Nelson kill fought off one match point before Haynie put the match and the conference championship away with a kill of her own, setting off a wild celebration.

Two bright spots for the Rams in this match was the continued spectacular play of both Minch and Nelson. The sophomore Minch who, after setting a season high in kills against BYU, topped that performance with a career high 17 kills against Utah, while Nelson posted a .444 hitting percentage on eight kills and no errors.

"Minch played real well today and she's been playing well lately," Hilbert said. "She's solidified that position at the outside for us. She'll be here for a few more years and she has a very bright future. She's a very talented kid."

With the win and the conference title, Utah gains an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Rams next travel to Long Beach State for their final regular season match next Saturday and will have to wait for an at-large bid to reach the NCAAs. As disappointing as Saturday's result is, Hilbert knows that all is not lost.

"I think today was a very quality volleyball match," he said. "It's a shame we didn't win it and it's a shame that we didn't win conference, but we still have a lot more volleyball ahead of us."