No. 10 CSU back on track after sweep of Fresno State

Fresno State provided the CSU volleyball team the perfect opportunity for a bounce-back performance.

The Rams were handed their first Mountain West defeat of the season Saturday against UNLV, but Colorado State University returned to the win column with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-20 road sweep of Fresno State.

The No. 10 Rams (24-2, 12-1 MW) had one of their best blocking performances of the season to hand Fresno State (6-21, 1-12 MW) its ninth loss in a row.

CSU had 13 blocks, compared to seven for Fresno State. The blocking effort was led by Alexandra Poletto, who hadn’t played since Oct. 4 with an ankle injury. The freshman from Ontario led all players with seven blocks.

The Rams hit .319, led by 12 kills from Adrianna Culbert and 10 from Jasmine Hanna. Fresno State, which was limited to .000 hitting in a CSU sweep earlier this season in Fort Collins, improved just marginally to hit .082.

Unlike the easy sweep the Rams had earlier in the season, Fresno State was in every set, but CSU displayed strong end-game play to prevent any thought of an upset.

The Rams have the weekend off before returning to the court against Air Force at 7 p.m. Thursday at Moby Arena. Holding a 2.5 game lead over UNLV atop the MW, CSU has five matches remaining, four of them at home.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.

NO. 10 CSU 3, FRESNO STATE 0

• Next up: Air Force at No. 10 CSU, 7 p.m. Thursday

• Listen: 90.5 FM KCSU

• Twitter updates: @Kevin_Lytle