Volleyball clinches MWC regular-season title with sweep of N. Mexico
Colorado State clinched a share of the 2007 MWC regular-season title on Saturday with a three-game sweep of New Mexico.
November 18, 2007
Strauss notches 19 kills
Even when it looked bleak in Game 3, the CSU volleyball team did not give up. With one goal in mind - a conference championship - the Rams fought back from being down by as many as seven points to win and complete a three-game sweep (30-22, 30-27, 31-29) of the University of New Mexico on Saturday.
"Offensively, New Mexico played really well," said Head Coach Tom Hilbert. "They had a hitting percentage of .254 for the match, and we won in three. That's rare. This could have been a four or five gamer if we were not playing our best."
Mokelki played error-free in Game 1
The Lobos played CSU close from the start. In Game 1, the largest was four points, an 8-4 CSU advantage, until a solo block by hitter Danielle Minch put CSU ahead by five. The Lobos never got any closer than that. CSU took a lead of eight points two times, most notably after a game-winning kill by Tonya Mokelki to end the game at 30-22. Mokelki played error-free in Game 1, with seven kills on 10 attacks. She hit .700. All the Rams came out strong on offense, with a hitting percentage of .395 as a team.
"We got a great spark from 'Moke,' she was incredible from the beginning," said Hilbert. "New Mexico changed their blocks to do something about her."
Game 2 was again close
Neither team led by more than two points until midway through, when the Rams went ahead 16-13 due to a block by Mekana Barnes and Jaime Strauss. From that point on, the Rams never trailed, despite several challenges by New Mexico. The Lobos made a run near the end of the game, getting six points in a row off of four kills and two errors by the CSU offense, but the Rams held on. Still, New Mexico kept the score to within three until CSU won, 30-27.
The team hitting percentage for the Rams in Game 2 was .359, largely due to the efforts of Minch, who hit .714 and had six kills off of seven hits; Barnes, who hit .462 with eight kills out of 13 hits; and Mokelki, who hit .400 with nine kills. Middle blocker Tessa Nelson led the defensive effort, with a hand in four blocks. Mokelki led with six digs, but libero Katelin Batten, Strauss and Barnes weren't far behind with five digs a piece.
Game 3 proved to be a true test
Game 3 proved to be a true test of the mettle of the CSU volleyball team. The Rams did not lead in the game until going ahead 29-28 after a New Mexico setting error. Even though the Lobos got the ball right back off a kill, a decisive kill by Strauss returned the lead to CSU, and a block by Mokelki and Nelson sealed the win. Nelson helped to block six balls in Game 3 alone.
59 team kills
CSU finished hitting .314 with 59 team kills. Three Rams were in double figures: Strauss (19), Barnes (13) and Mokelki (12). Fornstrom had 51 assists, and Batten and Mokelki tied for the lead in digs with eight a piece. There were 15 team blocks, and Nelson assisted on nine.
As a team, New Mexico hit .254. Jade Michaelsen had 42 assists, and the Lobos had 33 digs on the night.
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NEXT UP - MWC Championship Tournament
The Rams will leave Wednesday for the Mountain West Conference Championship Tournament in Las Vegas. Their first match will be Thursday.
Days: Wednesday - Saturday
Dates: Nov. 21-24
Location: Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nev.
Radio: KCSU (90.5 FM)
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be televised by The Mtn. All four of Thursday's quarterfinal matches and Friday's first semifinal contest will be shown live, with the second semifinal to be shown via same-day tape delay at 8 p.m. (MT).
For the fourth straight season, the MWC Tournament championship match will be shown live nationally on CSTV. The championship contest will also be streamed live as part of CSTV's All-Access package, available on the CSTV (http://www.cstv.com) and MWC (http://www.themwc.com) Web sites.
Learn more about the tournament at http://themwc.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mwc-w-volley-body.html.
The 2007 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Selection Announcement Show will be shown live Sunday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. Mountain Time on ESPNU.
Contact: Zak Gilbert
Email: Zak.Gilbert@colostate.edu
Phone Number: (970) 491-5067
