SAN DIEGO — Last year, San Diego State came to Fort Collins and snapped Colorado State’s 27-match win streak. Thursday night, the Aztecs had two chances to win one set and snap the Rams’ nation-leading 26-match road win streak, but the No. 7 Rams rallied to win the final two sets, winning in five 25-15, 23-25, 20-25, 25-17 and 15-5.
For CSU, it was their 18th straight victory, moving to 23-1 on the season, 11-0 in Mountain West play. Colorado State scored 10 of the final 11 points of the fifth set. It was an important win for the Rams as they push to land a regional-hosting bid.
“No doubt. It shows our team can struggle and come back and play well,” CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. “That’s the mark of a good competitor.”
Kelsey Snider led four Rams with double-figure kills with 14, as Adrianna Culbert, Jasmine Hannah and Marlee Reynolds each had 12. Snider had just three kills the first two sets, but provided a big lift, as did Culbert, as they rallied.
“I don’t know what changed (for Snider),” Hilbert said. “I’ll have to watch the film. I didn’t really realized she did that well. Acacia (Andrews) played well; she’s been in a slump. Dri was incredible the entire night. She does everything. She was blocking at the end and making defensive plays. She was all over the place. She’s a great player, and she’s hitting all over.”
The Rams finished hitting at a .286 clip. with Culbert and setter Deedra Foss both finishing with double-doubles. Culbert had 15 digs to go with her kills, while Foss had 12 combined with her 55 assists. Andrews led the team with seven blocks to go with nine kills, while Foss added five blocks.
Jaime Colaizzi led the Rams with 20 digs in the match as the Rams were pushed to five sets for just the second time this year. Both have come on the road, and both were wins (also at Arizona State).
The Aztecs (10-11, 5-5) had a trio of hitters with double-digit kills, with Chaiymin Steel and Alexis Cage going for 12 each, while Halle Aiken had 10. Overall, the Aztecs hits just .147 in the match as the Rams finished with 13.5 blocks to contribute to SDSU’s 30 hitting errors.
Colorado State will take on UNLV on the road Saturday (8 p.m.). The Rebels lost in five to Wyoming.