FORT COLLINS — After thoroughly dissecting all the numbers and Washington’s unusually high 16 service errors, Colorado State junior hitter Jacque Davisson offered the best explanation for the Rams’ trip to the Sweet 16.
“We played out of our minds tonight,” she said.
Davisson delivered the final kill shot to complete a 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19) upset of No. 6 seed and Pac-10 runner-up Washington on Friday.
Behind Mountain West player of the year Danielle Minch’s match-high 19 kills, the Rams (25-5) earned a trip to the Minneapolis Regional to play the winner of today’s Minnesota-Tennessee second-round game. CSU swept Tennessee earlier in the season.
It is CSU’s first trip to a regional since 2003. All week Rams coach Tom Hilbert said his team had to be aggressive, but not make the unforced errors. He credited the Moby Arena crowd of 2,750 for Washington’s aggressive but mistake-prone service.
“We were the ones who stayed composed tonight, and I cannot say enough about this crowd. Who would not want to come here and play?” Hilbert said in a not-so-subtle dig at Huskies junior Kindra Carlson, of Eaton, who spurned CSU’s recruiting offer.
Carlson, an all-Pac-10 outside hitter with her own home cheering section in Moby, didn’t have her best game.
“I feel badly for Kindra,” Hilbert said. “Our focus was on her.”
No one could have planned the bracket better than Rams senior all-MWC blocker Tessa Nelson. She grew up in Balaton, Minn., about 3 1/2 hours from Minneapolis, and said she’ll have at least 50 family members in the stands.
CSU didn’t allow Washington (24-6) to get in any rhythm in the first set, which remained close until the Rams rallied to a 16-12 lead. The Huskies didn’t lead after the opening point of the second set.
The Rams were in control early in the third, but Washington ran off a six-point rally to avert a shutout.
Hilbert said he wasn’t worried: “I’m sitting here thinking we’re up 2-0 on Washington, that’s pretty good. I think I can sit here and see how this team plays because the pressure is all on them.”
Footnotes. Huskies coach Jim McLaughlin twice referred to CSU as “CU.” . . . Rockies’ P.A. announcer Reed Saunders, an ex-CSU sports information intern, called the match.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
