The No. 17-ranked Colorado State women’s volleyball team’s NCAA Tournament run ended Saturday night, as the Rams fell at No. 2-ranked and third-seeded Stanford in straight sets in the second round at the Cardinal’s Maples Pavilion.
The Rams (26-5) took the Cardinal (26-3) to the brink in the opening set, battling the Pac-10 co-champion to a 26-26 tie before Stanford escaped with the 28-26 victory. From that point, Stanford showed why it earned the region’s top seed, downing the Rams 25-13 and 25-15 in sets 2 and 3.
Seniors Danielle Minch and Jacque Davisson led the Rams in kills, putting away nine and eight, respectively. Junior Katelyn Steffan tallied seven kills and four assisted blocks on the night, tying Minch for team- high honors.
Stanford advances to the regional semifinal round and will meet Ohio State in the Dayton Regional next weekend.
The loss closes the book on the Rams’ 2010 season that saw CSU win its second consecutive Mountain West Conference championship. The Rams’ postseason appearance marked the 16th consecutive for the program.
Lodwick wins combined in Steamboat Springs.
Todd Lodwick won the cross country portion of Saturday’s Nordic Excavating FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup event in Steamboat Springs. The two- time world champion and Olympic silver medalist finished first in 23 minutes, 43.9 seconds.
Lodwick, a Steamboat Springs native, started the cross country portion of the race in fourth after a jump of 96 meters, but he quickly caught Austria’s Dominik Dier, who finished second, and Germany’s Wolfgang Boesl, who was third.
