Match Stats
- Colorado State def. Nevada 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15)
- Colorado State moves to 12-5 (6-0 MWC); Nevada falls to 13-5 (5-2 MWC)
- Moby Arena, Fort Collins, Colorado (Colorado State hosted)
On Thursday evening in Fort Collins, Colorado State volleyball head coach Tom Hilbert got his 500th win with the program as part of a 3-0 sweep of in-conference rivals Nevada.
Hilbert is in his 33rd season of collegiate coaching and his 20th at Colorado State – making for an average of 25 wins per season in that period, and still a ways to go in 2016 to improve that average.
His overall career record as head coach of the Rams is now 500-118 – a career .809 percentage. He had similar success in building the program at his previous stop, Idaho, where after 3 building seasons, he won 4-straight conference championships before taking over at Colorado State.
His career includes 17 total conference championships, with 14 in his 19 full seasons with the Rams.
“That was quite touching however, I say this all the time: I have won 500 matches and I have not served the ball yet I have not hit one, I have not passed one. That is all done by players. I should be bowing to them to be quite honest.” – Tom Hilbert on win number 500
Hilbert now ranks in the top 20 among active NCAA Division I coaches in career wins, and 11th in winning percentage.
Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU40wIDXOAU
Press Releases
Courtesy Colorado State Athletics:
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Junior Alexandra Poletto dominated offensively, hitting .722, but 500 was the most significant number of the night as Head Coach Tom Hilbert picked up his 500th win at CSU after the Rams swept the Nevada Wolf Pack on Thursday night at Moby Arena.
The Rams improved to 6-0 in Mountain West play (12-5 overall), handing Nevada (13-5, 4-2 MW) just its second conference loss.
The Rams led for nearly the entire match. Nevada scored the opening point of the first set, but CSU quickly found itself up 9-3 after four early kills from Poletto. CSU’s lead stayed grew from there, and the Rams led 21-9 after consecutive kills byJasmine Hanna. Nevada scored four straight points late, but the gap was too wide for the Wolf Pack. CSU held on to win, 25-17.
CSU never trailed in the second set, and led from 3-2 forward. The Rams lead grew to 7 at 16-9 following a block by Katie Oleksak and Kirstie Hillyer. Nevada pulled within 2 on three occasions, including at 22-20, but the Rams scored three of the final four points including a pair of kills by Hanna to win 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead headed into the break.
Nevada again scored the first point of the third set, but the lead would be short-lived. CSU again pulled out to a 9-3 lead, and extended the advantage to 11-3 after a pair of Nevada attack errors. Nevada cut the CSU lead to 4 at 15-11, but that would be closest it would get to a comeback. Poletto and Sanja Cizmic each registered 6 kills in the frame as CSU cruised to a 25-15 third-set victory to seal the sweep.
Fans held up signs with the No. 500 on them and Hilbert was presented a mosaic and a decorated volleyball by Athletics Director Joe Parker immediately following the match.
IN THEIR WORDS…
“That was quite touching however, I say this all the time. I have won 500 matches and I have not served the ball yet. I have not hit one, I have not passed one. That is all done by players. I should be bowing to them to be quite honest.” – Head CoachTom Hilbert on his players’ reaction post-match to his 500th win
“It is awesome, honestly. When I saw those signs, it is really cool and I mean you know the legacy Tom has coming here, a lot of people have heard his name, coaches back home knew who he was and being able to like keep that legacy up for him and just for everyone else on the team, it is an awesome thing itself.” – Alexandra Poletto on Hilbert’s 500th win
“The fact that we took such a commanding leading all of these sets because that team (Nevada) is good. They made some uncharacteristic mistakes but it was mainly because we were putting a lot of pressure on them. Their serving and passing game, to me, was great and we did not give up a lot there. That kept us in control the entire time.” – Hilbert’s general thoughts on the match
“It was very touching. I am proud of what my career has been like here. I think I have 500 wins because I focus on them one win at a time. That’s why it’s so weird to me. This place is a great place to be a volleyball coach. People were thanking me after the game for being here as long as I have. I am the one that’s blessed. This job, this city, this university, and everybody surrounding the program, this is one of the best places to coach in the country. I am happy I’ve been here this long.” – More from Hilbert on his 500th win
STAT OF THE DAY…
500 – Tom Hilbert won his 500th career match at Colorado State, improving his CSU record to 500-118. He has won over 80 percent (.809) of his matches since arriving in Fort Collins. Hilbert is the 14th active coach to win 500 or more matches as their current school.
NOTES…
• Head Coach Tom Hilbert is now 500-118 (.809) at CSU and 674-190 overall. He is the winningest coach in any sport in CSU history, and is the 14th active Division I volleyball coach to reach 500 wins at their current school.
• CSU has won 66 of its last 68 Mountain West matches, including 30 in a row. CSU’s last loss in league play came on Nov. 1, 2014 at UNLV.
• Alexandra Poletto his over .700 for the third time this season. Poletto registered 13 kills on 18 attempts with no errors for a .722 hitting percentage, her second-most efficient outing of the year (.733 vs. North Dakota State).
• Poletto and Kirstie Hillyer combined to dominate at middle blocker for the Rams, hitting .679 with 20 total kills together.
• Sanja Cizmic totaled 10 kills, reaching double-digits for the 12th time this season.
NEXT…
The Rams will host the San Diego State Aztecs on Saturday at 1 p.m. The match will also serve as CSU’s ‘Pink Out’. Tickets can be purchased at CSURams.com/tickets and the match can be streamed live at CSURams.com/videos.
Courtesy Nevada Athletics:
RENO, Nev. – The Nevada Wolf Pack volleyball team (13-4, 4-1) topped the Fresno State Bulldogs (10-7, 1-5) in a thrilling five set match Saturday afternoon (21-15, 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 15-13) to extend the Pack’s win streak to four.
Freshman Shayla Hoeft proved to be a menace at the net with a total of eight blocks, a new single match high. Hoeft also recorded 10 kills. Senior Madison Morell and junior Madison Foley led the charge offensively for Nevada. Foley tallied 20 kills, a new season high, while Morell also put down 20 for the fourth time this season. Morell’s streak of double digit kill matches now stands at 17. Senior Kathryn Groenweghe joined the double digit kill club with 13. Senior libero Madison Thorpe dug the most balls for the Pack at 11. Senior Lyndsey Anderson put up a strong performance on the afternoon with 59 assists, another new single match high.
“All the credit goes to our pin blockers,” said Hoeft. “They’ve been setting up the block really well. Coach Burton has been really focusing on us and that in practice. We had great energy today and we played really well as a team on and off the court.”
Foley, who ranks in the top three in the conference in aces, started the match off by putting one down just inside the line. Things were knotted up at three a piece when the Bulldogs began to pull away, going up by as much as 9-5. The Pack build some momentum, however, bringing it to within one, down 12-11. Fresno State expanded its lead to 18-14, forcing the Nevada bench to call a timeout and regroup. The Pack kept the game at that margin until 23-19. Despite pulling to within two after four straight points, Nevada fell to the Bulldogs in set one 25-21.
The two teams kept it tied to start the second set. Fresno State took a two point lead, and Nevada came right back to keep it neutral. Back-to-back blocks from Hoeft, assisted by Anderson and Morell, put Nevada up 12-9 before the Bulldogs called a timeout. The Pack continued its 8-2 to take a 15-10 lead before Fresno State got the sideout. The Bulldogs would then pull to within three to bring the score to 18-15 and force the Pack timeout. Nevada maintained its three point lead, expanding it to five to claim the second set 25-20 and even the match up at 1-1.
The two teams came out neck and neck again in the third as the ‘Dogs and Pack exchanged blows with it locked up all the way until 14, when the Bulldogs took a two point lead. After a Nevada timeout, the Pack came back to score two straight off of Groenweghe and Hoeft kills and tie the set back up at 16, the 13th tie of the set. The set tied up again at 17 before another Hoeft kill and a Fresno error gave Nevada the two point lead, 19-17. The Bulldogs called a timeout at 21-19 to regroup after Hoeft logged her seventh block of the match to tie her single match high. Back-to-back kills from Morell and Groenweghe gave Nevada the 25-21 set win, going up in the match 2-1.
The Pack wasn’t messing around to start the fourth set, hopping out to a quick 4-0 lead. Nevada held onto the lead for most of the match, going up 19-14. The Bulldogs then went on a long run, tying the match up 21. The Bulldogs saw set point at 24-21 before a Morell kill brought the deficit to just two. Fresno State would go on to force set five after taking the fourth 25-22. Both freshman Dalyn Burns and sophomore Peighton De Von got in on the action in the fourth set.
Nevada got off to another hot start in the fifth set with a 4-1 lead. Fresno State came back to within one at 6-5 to get right back in it. Hoeft and Foley put down another block to bring the Nevada lead to 8-5. The block was Hoeft’s eighth of the match, a new single match high. The Bulldogs came back yet again to tie it up at 10. Nevada surged thanks to Foley, Groenweghe, Fresenius and Morell to take a match point 14-11 lead. Fresno State came knocking 14-13, but it was Foley who would put it away, giving Nevada the 3-2 match.
The Pack will be back on the road next week, facing Colorado State on Thursday and Wyoming on Saturday.
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