MATCH STATS
- #21 Colorado State def. Wyoming, 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16)
- Colorado State improves to 21-2, 11-0 Mountain West; Wyoming falls to 12-11, 7-4 Mountain West
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Attendance: 2578
- Box score
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – After dropping the first set to second-place Wyoming at home on a 6-0 run, the Rams righted the ship and knocked off the Cowgirls in four sets (22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16). The win now has Colorado State in an almost insurmountable lead in the Mountain West Conference; four full games over second-place Wyoming with only 7 matches remaining on their conference schedule.
Kirstie Hillyer had a match-high 16 kills with only 2 attack errors to finish with a .583 hitting percentage. She added 4 blocks, 3 digs and an ace for a well-rounded stat line. Breana Runnels complemented Hillyer’s effort with 14 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks and 2 aces on the match. Jasmine Hanna had an errorless hitting night with 11 kills (.367) to go along with 2 blocks. Rounding out the double-digit kill club members was Paulina Hougaard-Jensen with 11 kills, an impressive .625 hitting percentage and her first career double-double, adding a match-high 10 blocks. Setter Katie Oleksak ran an efficient offense (.313) with a double-double of her own. Oleksak finished with 52 assists and 10 digs. Libero Amanda Young led all defenders in the match with 20 digs and added 3 aces to boot.
Wyoming finished set one on a 6-0 run after being down 22-19 with 4 kills, 2 blocks and an ace. The Cowgirls hit a match-high .412 in set one. From that point on, however, Colorado State made adjustments, slowed the middle attack down (as opposed to the previous match-up at Wyoming) and coasted to victory.
The Cowgirls were led by Halie McArdle with 15 kills, 12 digs and 2 blocks, hitting .419 on the evening. This was McArdle’s 4th double-double of the season. Tara Traphagan added 12 kills, 2 blocks and 2 digs of her own. The offense was directed by Marissa Harmon with 46 assists. Libero Madi Fields dug a team-high 17 balls to lead the Cowgirls on the back line.
Overall, the Rams led in every category statistically, despite Wyoming’s impressive start to the match. CSU had the advantage in kills (57-52), hitting percentage (.313-.181), aces (9-3), blocks (15-6), assists (53-50) and digs (59-52).
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The No. 20 Colorado State volleyball team kept its winning streak alive and pushed it to 11-straight with a 3-1 win over Wyoming on Tuesday night in Mountain West Conference action. The Rams improve to 21-2 overall and 11-0 in the conference, distancing themselves from the rest of the MW in the standings. Wyoming still remains in second in the Mountain West standings with a 12-11 overall record and now four matches back from CSU at 7-4 in the league.
Colorado State was led by Kirstie Hillyer who floored 16 kills, while committing just two errors on 24 attempts for a .583 hitting mark. Breana Runnels followed with 14 kills, while Jasmine Hanna and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen added 11. The Rams middle blockers (Hillyer and Hougaard-Jensen) combined for 27 kills, while both hitting nearly .600. Hougaard-Jensen recorded her first double-double of her career, adding 10 blocks to her resume. Katie Oleksak also tallied her fifth double-double of the season dishing out 52 assists and recording 10 digs. Amanda Young also made a mark in the defense, totaling 20 digs and dropping in three aces.
The Rams worked out to a 22-19 lead in the first frame, but a 6-0 run by the Cowgirls stole the set to gain a 1-0 match lead. The Rams handled Wyoming in the second frame, building a 17-11 lead and not allowing the Cowgirls to come within five points the rest of the frame. The third set looked to float the same was the second did, as the Rams charged out to a 5-1 lead early, but the Cowgirls battled. The set was tied 10-10 before Wyoming took a one point lead and pushed it to two at 15-13 heading into the media timeout. The two teams fought through the heart of the frame, but a four-point run gave the Rams a 21-18 advantage, which they held the rest of the way to take a 2-1 match lead. in the fourth, CSU again manufactured an early five-point run to lead 7-3 early and held it by stringing four and six-point rallies throughout the set. The Rams led at 18-10 and did not allow the Cowgirls get within six the rest of the match.
Colorado State will stay at Moby Arena and host Air Force on Thursday night starting at 7 p.m.
IN THEIR WORDS…
Tom Hilbert‘s opening statement…
“That was a fantastic match. I thought we played a good match against a Wyoming team that was really good at the start. We made some nice adjustments. Olivia (Nicholson) was primarily put in for blocking, because it wasn’t Sanja’s (Cizmic) night, and she did a good job as a blocker. Our middles were great, our outside hitters were great and Breana Runnels was great despite too many unforced errors. I loved the way she played night and I loved how aggressive she was. She also had a lot of really fun shots and did a nice job serving the ball as well; so did Kirstie Hillyer. We had some new things that happened tonight that were kind of fun. Our team competed well with the exception of the 6-point run in the first set, but I think that might have fueled our team a little bit for the rest of the match. Every time Wyoming made a charge we had an answer.”
Katie Oleksak on how much weight the Rams put on this match with Wyoming being the second seed in the Mountain West…
“It is important for us to go out and play well. We know they are the second seed so we know that we have to not only beat them, but make a statement and go undefeated for the remainder of conference play.”
Paulina Hougaard-Jensen on if she felt as if the Rams had the advantage in the middle for the match…
“Definitely. We had a much harder time playing them last time because of how well their middle played. Tonight our middles were just better than their middles.”
Courtesy of Wyoming Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Oct. 24, 2017) — The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team started off hot, but fell in four sets (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 16-25) at Colorado State on Tuesday night. Wyoming rallied a number of times throughout the match but ultimately moved to 12-11 overall and 7-4 in Mountain West action.
Sophomore Halie McArdle posted her fourth double-double of the season behind a team-high 15 kills in addition to 12 digs. Sophomore Madi Fields topped the Brown and Gold with 17 digs against the Rams, as fellow sophomore Tara Traphagandropped 12 kills on Tuesday night. Redshirt Freshman Jackie McBride added nine kills while junior Emily Lewis posted eight for UW.
Freshman Marissa Harmon once again ran the offense for Wyoming. She recorded 46 assists during the match, and also added five digs, and three kills. Junior Reed Copeland had five kills against the Border War rival, and a team-best four blocks. Senior Lily Austin chipped in seven digs for the Brown and Gold, as redshirt sophomore Cori Aafedt added six against the Rams.
Copeland now has 436 career blocks as a member of the Brown and Gold. She needs two to tie former teammate Laura Beachfor fifth all-time at Wyoming. Austin jumped to a tie with Melody Friehauf for eighth all-time in sets played at 422. She also needs 26 digs to tie Courtney Chacon for tenth in Cowgirl history. Additionally, five more service aces from Austin would tie her with Rachel Lau for tenth all-time with 98 for her career.
Set One
Wyoming opened in thrilling fashion with a 25-22 set win. UW would take the first point but CSU jumped out to a 4-1 lead and remained in control for a majority of the opening frame. Wyoming found itself down by three, 12-15 at the media timeout and also by five, 13-18 before a called timeout and a Ram rally. The Cowgirls would then go on to tie the set at 22 before taking the victory.
Set Two
The second set was pretty back and forth to begin with. CSU held a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout. Not only did CSU not look back but it would take ten of the next 15 points to even the set score at one heading into intermission.
Set Three
CSU used a 5-1 spark to begin the third match. Wyoming didn’t back down and tied it at six after a McArdle kill. Wyoming would use a 3-0 run to take an 11-10 lead after a CSU attacking error. The teams would trade points until the Cowgirls used another 3-0 rally to take a 15-13 lead. The Rams would ignite to a 21-18 lead only to see the Brown and Gold answer with three straight. CSU rallied and took the set, 25-21.
Set Four
The fourth set started in favor of the Rams who used two separate four-point runs. Wyoming used its second timeout with CSU up, 11-6 and hitting .385 to begin the final frame. The CSU offense kept its pace throughout and additionally kept the pressure on UW. CSU closed out the set, 25-16 and the 3-1 match behind a service ace and a Ram kill.
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