The Colorado State volleyball team will finish this season where it ended 2009 — atop the Mountain West Conference and ranked No. 17 nationally — if preseason polls released Tuesday are accurate.
The Rams received 15 of 16 first-place votes in the annual MWC poll of the league’s coaches and selected media members, and a No. 17 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
CSU returns five starters from a team that went 25-6, won the MWC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament. The Rams also have a freshman class ranked No. 15 nationally by .
CSU outside hitter Danielle Minch (from Sterling High School) was projected to repeat as MWC player of the year and Evan Sanders (Centaurus) was the preseason choice as setter of the year.
Wyoming outside hitter Jody Purdy, the MWC’s 2009 freshman of the year, also was named to the preseason all-conference team.
Poudre lineman picks Rams.
Colorado State’s football program received its 14th pledge for next year’s recruiting class, this one from the Rams’ backyard.
Poudre’s Sam Carlson, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound offensive lineman, announced he would sign with CSU.
“I chose CSU because of the coaching staff,” he said.
Carlson shopped himself at five camps this summer, including two at CSU, and drew interest from other Mountain West Conference schools. Natalie Meisler, The Denver Post
Wyoming cornerback shines.
An interception by senior cornerback Marcell Gipson sealed a 53-36 win for the Wyoming defense in the Cowboys’ second scrimmage of August camp in Laramie.
The defense built a 27-2 lead in the first half of the 105-play scrimmage, but the offense pulled within 41-36 and had a chance to win the scrimmage before Gipson’s interception. The defense was awarded 12 points in the scrimmage scoring system for Gipson’s interception and 37-yard return for a touchdown.
The bad news for the Wyoming defense was a sprained ankle suffered by linebacker Brian Hendricks. The junior from Burlington will be evaluated again today. Outside linebacker Ghaali Muhammed, a sophomore from St. Joseph, Mo., finished with a scrimmage-high 10 tackles.
Sophomore quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, a returning starter who passed for 1,953 yards and 10 touchdowns last year in a 7-6 season, led the Cowboys’ No. 1 offense on a 59-yard drive that produced a field goal in its only series against the No. 1 defense.
“We’re about where I expected us to be at this point of camp,” Wyoming coach Dave Christensen said. “As long as we continue to make progress at the rate at which we’ve been making it, we’ll be fine.
“But if we go out (today) and don’t make ourselves a better football team, we won’t be headed in the right direction.”
Pioneers preparing for games in Spain.
The University of Denver men’s basketball team will take advantage of an NCAA rule that allows teams to travel abroad once every four years and go to Spain to play six professional teams during a 13-day trip, fourth- year DU coach Joe Scott announced.
The NCAA rule also allows teams to practice for 10 days before the trip. The Pioneers have already started practicing for their first game, Tuesday against Real Canoe in Madrid.
Area bowler eliminated in tournament.
Henry Gonzalez of Colorado Springs was eliminated in the round of eight, two games to one, by Patric Donaghue of Honeoye Falls, N.Y., in the Professional Bowlers Association Senior Pepsi Open in Decatur, Ill.
