TEMPE, Ariz. — Colorado State didn’t have much time to celebrate — or rest — after Friday’s five-set win over No. 18 Arizona State. The No. 8 Rams made sure they’d get some between matches on Saturday, sweeping past Pepperdine in a morning match (25-13, 25-23, 25-20) at the Residence Inn Classic.
They would later sweep North Carolina Central (25-15, 25-20. 25-12), CSU’s seventh straight, pushing the Rams to 12-1 on the season. Marlee Reynolds was named the tournament MVP, with Jasmine Hanna and Jaime Colaizzi also named to the all-tourney team.
Coach Tom Hilbert said his team looked a bit tired in the opener, particularly in the final two sets. The Rams faced deficits in both, but rallied despite not hitting with authority.
“We didn’t have the same amount of pop as we did last night. We did in first set, then we started hitting digable balls,” Hilbert said. “We played well. We went very low error in attacking and out-blocked them 12-2. The matches were a little closer because we weren’t killing balls.:
After having four players with double-digit kills in the win over the Sun Devils, the Rams didn’t have a single player hit the mark in the win over the Waves, but eight different players registered kills as the team hit .333 in the match. Most of the damage came from the outside, as opposite hitters Reynolds (nine kills) and Hanna (eight) paced the team. Kelsey Snider had six to go along with four blocks, as the Rams finished with 12 in the match. Alexandra Poletto came off the bench to register four blocks as well. Snider and Poletto had two solo blocks each.
“We were getting blocks on the players we should be blocking,” he said. “Alexandra only played about 30 percent of the match, so for her to come in and get the blocks she did was really good.”
The difference in blocking, and defense overall, was important in the win, Hilbert said. He felt they controlled most of the match, but found ways to post another win despite the lapses.
“It’s a great trait,” he said. “I was really happy with the competitive aspect of our team. We were down in the final two sets, down six in the third, and we did some really good things.”
Colorado State was strong on the defensive end, limiting Pepperdine to just .122 on the attack committing 23 errors. Colaizzi had 12 digs, her seventh straight match with at least 10, and Dri Culbert had 10. Deedra Foss had 28 assists in the match.
In the final match, Hilbert sat Foss, Culbert and Andrews against a winless NCCU squad (0-15) to start, giving Crystal Young her first start at setter. She came through with 33 assists as Hanna led the Rams with 12 kills, while Reynolds added 10. Hilbert said the lineup was as much to give some people a break as well as see some players in game action.
“I thought (Crystal) looked real good,” he said. “I thought her setting accuracty was great and she made good decisions. You get to see the actual iin-rotational decisions made and what happens when somebody starts running points. You get a chance to see players do things you don’t always get to see in practice.”
The Rams out-blocked the Eagles 8-1, limiting their foes to a .108 attack percentage.
Contact Sports Editor Mike Brohard at 970-635-3633 or mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard
