MATCH STATS
- Colorado State defeats Nevada, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18)
- Colorado State improves to 18-2; Nevada drops to 5-15
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Attendance: 2414
- Box Score
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Rams remain undefeated in Mountain West play after sweeping Nevada on Saturday. Seven of the eight conference games have been sweeps.
Colorado State hit .261 on the match, with a .387 hitting percentage in the second set, as they held Nevada to a .149 clip. The Rams out blocked the Wolf Pack 9.5-5.
CSU setter Katie Oleksak totaled 32 assists, four digs, two kills, and three block assist. On the other side of the net, Dalyn Burns and McKayla Wuensch combined for 21 assists and ten digs.
Two Colorado State players posted eight kills in Jasmine Hanna with .227 clip and Breana Runnels on a .312 hitting percentage.
Nevada’s offense was led by Madison Foley, who had 11 kills on a .192 hitting percentage. She also added eight digs and an ace.
Both teams will continue with Mountain West play in midweek matches as Nevada travels to San Jose State on Tuesday and Colorado State takes on UNLV on Thursday.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The No. 21 Colorado State volleyball team finished its homecoming weekend with a sweep over Nevada on Saturday afternoon in Moby Arena. The Rams remain undefeated in Mountain West Conference action and have won their last eight matches, including seven via sweep. The match was also a Pink Out with the Rams wearing their pink jersey to help support breast cancer awareness.
CSU was led by Jasmine Hanna and Breana Runnels who each tallied eight kills and hit at .227 and .312 marks, respectfully. Katie Oleksak paced the offense with 32 assists and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen led the defense – that recorded 9.5 blocks – with six stuffs in the sweep.
The Rams started out strong in set one, charging out to a 5-0 lead and holding Nevada to a .081 mark to take the frame, 25-21. The Wolf Pack rallied in set two, where the two teams battled for the lead as there were four tie scores and one lead change early in the set. CSU put together a three-point run to gain an 11-8 advantage and never lost control cruising to a 25-19 score. Following the intermission, Nevada looked to take charge of the third set as it led early, but Colorado State put up six uncontested points to take an 11-6 lead. The Wolf Pack came within six points at 23-16, but the Rams went on to close out the match with a 25-18 victory.
The Rams will be on the road next week for two Mountain West Conference matchups, starting with UNLV on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.
IN THEIR WORDS…
Tom Hilbert‘s opening statement…
“A lot of fun things happened today. We got to play Alexandra Poletto and she did a nice job. We had a good blocking game plan and I thought it worked. We also had a good serving game plan and I thought we executed that very well too. Nevada came after Sanja Cizmic during the serve and every team is serving her a lot and she did a nice job today passing.”
Alexandra Poletto on recovering from injury and trying to find the flow again on the floor…
“It defiantly has been frustrating. No one goes into their season expecting to sit out half the time with injuries, but I think I have come to terms with making the most of when I am in. In practice if I am only allowed to block or hitting, I am going to make the best out of it. I am still working on my rhythm on the court but it defiantly comes back easily within a few points of being out there.”
Poletto on playing more sets than recently today…
“It is good, obviously. Just having the chance to work with Katie Oleksak in an actual match situation helps her confidence a lot and being back out there with the team.”
Paulina Hougaard-Jensen on having three talented middles back in the lineup…
“When Alexandra Poletto got back, the middles all had a talk and recognized that we all have different skills and that if someone is having an off day, another person is able to fill in.”
Tom Hilbert on juggling three middles…
“It is tough. I look at who is playing well and look at how healthy everyone is. I also look at what things we are looking for when we play an opponent and we decide on that. Today just wasn’t a good day for Kirstie Hillyer and it gave us an opportunity to play other people and this sometimes is a good thing to do.”
Courtesy of Nevada Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Playing its second ranked opponent of the year, the Nevada Wolf Pack volleyball team (5-15, 3-5 MW) fell on the road Saturday afternoon to the No. 21 ranked Colorado State Rams (18-2, 8-0 MW) in three straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-18).
The match was led offensively by Wolf Pack senior Madison Foley who racked up 11 kills and fell just two digs short of her second double-double of the season. Her eight digs marked a team high.
The Rams got out to a quick start, going up 5-0 to begin the match. It was the Wolf Pack offense that then ticked up, cutting the Colorado State lead to two by 10-8. Although Nevada kept it close for much of the match, Colorado State would hang on for the 25-21 set one win.
It was Nevada’s turn to come out hot, taking a 5-1 lead right out of the gate. The run forced a CSU timeout, and the Rams put it to good use. Coming out of the break, they tied it up a six all with a 5-1 run of their own. Although a kill from Foley would put the Pack back up, CSU took its first lead of the match at 9-8. While the Pack kept the second frame mostly in reach, the Rams would go on to win the set 25-19.
Nevada got out to another quick lead, but the Rams had the third set tied by each team’s fifth point. It was all Colorado State from there as the Rams went on to win the final set 25-18
The Wolf Pack’s road swing will come to a close at San José State Tuesday night. The match against the Spartans will be broadcast live on Stadium at 6 p.m. PT.
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