FORT COLLINS — The Colorado State volleyball team has known all week that the second round of the NCAA Tournament would be played on its home floor tonight.
But for the Rams, it just wouldn’t have been right if they weren’t involved in the festivities.
That possibility was gaining feasibility when Middle Tennessee State took No. 25 CSU to a fifth game Thursday night at Moby Arena, but the Rams responded just in time to clinch a 25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-6 first-round win.
“Toward the end, we finally felt comfortable and confident with what we were doing,” CSU junior outside hitter Danielle Minch said.
No overstatement there. The Rams (24-5) darted to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set and increased it to 10-2 after three consecutive kills by Minch, who last week was named the Mountain West Conference player of the year.
Finishing off the Sun Belt Conference champion Blue Raiders (25-10) means the Rams indeed will be on the Moby hardwood tonight, looking to pull an upset against Washington. The Huskies defeated Northern Colorado in the early game.
“I was thinking we had won some five-game matches throughout the season, so we should be comfortable by this point,” CSU middle blocker Tessa Nelson said.
Both coaches agreed the match won’t be recalled for its aesthetic value, and CSU junior Jacque Davisson seemed to agreed. She lashed into the Rams with what teammates termed a “pep talk” after CSU dropped the fourth set, reminding them what was at stake and not to overstress after each surrendered point.
“When the team lets go and stops worrying about the scoreboard, sometimes they start playing a lot better,” CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. “That’s what happened for us.”
Hilbert improved to 331-84 at CSU and tonight will be aiming to guide the Rams to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in school history (Dec. 11-12 in Minneapolis).
Washington 3, N. Colorado 1
The Bears were thinking upset after taking the first set from the No. 6 Huskies, but Washington rebounded for a 25-27, 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 victory.
Eaton High School graduate Kindra Carlson led the Huskies with 20 kills while Kenzie Shreeve had 19 for UNC. “They had a second gear,” Bears coach Lyndsey Benson said. “We didn’t have a second gear tonight.”
