CSU VOLLEYBALL

Colorado State into Sweet 16 after five-set thriller

Kevin Lytle
kevinlytle@coloradoan.com

CSU was on the brink of heart-breaking elimination.

The Rams faced match-point in a decisive fifth-set in Saturday's second-round match in the NCAA tournament.

Then Alexandra Poletto got a kill to keep Colorado State University alive. An attacking error from CU gave the Rams the edge.

Then Poletto, the freshman from Canada, combined with Adrianna Culbert to block Alexis Austin's attack.

The ball slowly fell toward the floor, finally hitting the ground and sending CSU to the Sweet 16.

The Rams rushed the court and smothered each other in a pile of tears, screams of joy and celebratory hugs.

"Honestly, it's kind of a blur. All I remember is seeing one of their players try and dig it. From there I don't even know," Poletto said. "The excitement just takes over. I don't even remember, to be honest. I was just so excited."

Simply put, it was a match that will go down in Colorado State University lore.

The 3-2 win (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 24-26, 16-14) catapults the Rams into the Sweet 16 for first time since 2009 and 10th time in program history. CSU will face No. 2 Texas in the regional semifinal on Friday in Minneapolis.

"This is the happiest and greatest match I've been a part of in coaching here in 18 years," coach Tom Hilbert said. "It's a great moment for CSU, volleyball and the state of Colorado. I'm just so happy for these guys."

Hilbert left the floor pumping his fists to the crowd, egging on the 6,011 fans in attendance.

It was a raucous ending that was so close to being a heartbreaking loss for CSU.

The Rams led 2-0 at intermission after closing out two back-and-forth sets. After the break the University of Colorado (20-14) came back energized.

They won the next two sets in close fashion.

That set up the fifth set with the largely CSU crowd on edge and the section of CU fans going wild.

Tied at 13 in the race to 15, CSU's Deedra Foss hit a service error to give CU a match-point. Instead of being the death of the Rams, it set up Poletto's sequence of kill, CU error and CSU block to end the match.

CSU's balanced attacked powered the team. Freshman Jasmine Hanna had 13 kills, Culbert had 12, Poletto had 11 and Kelsey Snider had 10.

But it was senior outside hitter Marlee Reynolds who was the star. She had 18 kills and hit .364.

"I thought Marlee Reynolds had the best match of her career," Hilbert said. "She played aggressively, solidly and got a lot of kills. It was fantastic."

CU was able to stay alive via U.S. National Team player Taylor Simpson, who had a career-high 32 kills and hit .426 on 61 swings.

"We had no answer for Taylor Simpson and still we were able to survive," Hilbert said. "She was able to do a lot of things when we knew what she was doing."

Not only does the match send CSU into the Sweet 16, it keeps bragging rights at home. Hilbert is now 47-0 at Moby Arena against Air Force, Denver, Northern Colorado and CU.

The Rams are 4-0 in NCAA tournament history against CU. The Buffs felt coming from the Pac12 they would be able to overpower the Mountain West squad and admitted being surprised at CSU's play.

"Their outside hitters were almost unstoppable for us. I don't think we expected them to hit as well as they did," Simpson said. "CSU's a great team. I think that we may have overlooked them a little bit. Best of luck to them in the regional."

After the match was over Reynolds sat almost in awe of what had just happened. Playing the final game of her career at Moby Arena left her fighting tears as she searched for ways to describe her emotions.

"It's just incredible. That fifth set I was looking around and just seeing Moby packed like that," Reynolds said. "They were the reason we won this game. They were right behind us."

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

CSU 3, CU 2

CU

22

21

25

26

14

CSU

25

25

23

24

16

Next up: No. 15 CSU vs. No. 2 Texas, TBA Friday at Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Twitter updates: @Kevin_Lytle