No. 6 Colorado State continues domination of Boise State

The CSU volleyball team has dropped only two sets in Mountain West play this year.

But it's not as if the Rams don't have to fight for their wins, they just happen to be really good at winning close sets.

Like, really good at it.

That showed again Thursday night as No. 6 Colorado State University swept Boise State 25-18, 30-28, 25-15.

The second set was the decisive one.

The Rams (21-1, 9-0 MW) trailed 20-18 at one point and staved off two set points from Boise State (12-9, 5-4 MW) before a kill from Adrianna Culbert and attacking error from the Broncos gave CSU the 30-28 win.

This season CSU has been in 31 sets decided by five points or less and have 25 of them.

"We're confident with it. We've been in that close situation so many times that it's second nature to us," said Culbert, who finished with 10 kills. "We're like 'OK, want to be 20-20? That's OK, we'll still win at the end.'"

That sucked any hope Boise State had of winning and the Rams rolled in the third set to move to 10-0 all-time against the Broncos without ever dropping a set.

CSU's 16th consecutive win came as the No. 4 ranked offense in the nation in hitting percentage continued its efficient play.

The Rams hit .318 and had four players in double-digits with kills, led by 14 from senior Marlee Reynolds.

"Compared to the beginning of the season I feel like I'm seeing the court better and feeling more comfortable with hitting different shots," said Reynolds, who hit .423 for the match. "I'm getting up and able to hit over the blocker."

While the offense was clicking, it was the defense and serving that coach Tom Hilbert credited with the win.

He said CSU had three key players it wanted to shut down — Maddy O'Donnell, Sierra Nobley and Kaitlyn Oliver.

Nobley had 11 kills, but hit just .129. Oliver hit .091 with just three kills. O'Donnell, the leader in hitting percentage in the MW, hit .400 but had just six kills.

Boise State hit .162 for the match and was outblocked 8-7 by CSU.

The defense was aided by strong serving that led to nine service aces, including three from Rocky Mountain High School graduate Kaitlind Bestgen.

"It keeps them out of system and we don't have to worry about the spread of their offense," Culbert said of the team's strong serving. "It makes it easier on the block."

CSU will look to stay perfect in its pink-out game at noon Saturday at Moby Arena against Utah State, one of two MW teams to win a set against the Rams this season.

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

No. 6 CSU 3, BOISE STATE 0

At Moby Arena

Boise State

18

28

15

CSU

25

30

25

• Next up: Utah State at No. 6 CSU noon Saturday at Moby Arena

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