Broncos Travel to Face Colorado State and Air Force

Thursday, March 25

Fort Collins, Colo.

7:00 p.m. MT

Boise State

Colorado State

3/24/2021 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

MATCH NOTES (PDF)

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

THE SCHEDULE

Boise State (10-3) at Colorado State and Air Force

MATCH 14 at Colorado State (6-5)
DATE: Thursday, March 25
LOCATION (FACILITY): Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
TIME: 7 p.m. MT
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live Stream (MW Network) | Live Scoring

MATCH 15 at Air Force (6-6)
DATE: Saturday, March 27
LOCATION (FACILITY): USAFA, Colo. (Cadet East Gym)
TIME: 1 p.m. MT
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live Stream (MW Network) | Live Scoring

FOLLOW THE BRONCOS

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BRONCOS TRAVEL TO FACE COLORADO STATE AND AIR FORCE

WHAT'S NEXT: Boise State (10-3) hits the road for two road matches in Colorado starting with Colorado State (6-5) at 7 p.m. (Mountain) Thursday night at Fort Collins, followed by a 1 p.m. (MT) Saturday encounter at Air Force (6-6) in USAFA, Colo.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: The best way to follow this week's action is by going to the volleyball schedule on BroncoSports.com and clicking on the appropriate "Live Scoring" and/or "Live Stream" links for the particular match you want to follow. The live stream is free of charge courtesy of the Mountain West Network.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE: Boise State enters the week at 10-3 overall, 6-1 at home and 4-2 on the road. The Broncos are coming off their first home loss of the season 3-2 to San Diego State last Saturday (March 20). Boise State went 18-12 overall in 2019 and 10-8 in conference to place fourth, it also advanced to the NIVC. The Blue and Orange return five starters and the libero, as well as 11 members of the 2019 squad. In addition to the 11 returners, Boise State added four recruits to this year's team.

Boise State is led by Preseason All-MW honoree Lauren Ohlinger who is averaging 4.13 kills per set (MW 2nd), 11.30 attacks (MW 2nd / NCAA 49th) and 4.59 points (MW 2nd). As a team, Boise State leads the MW and is ranked eighth nationally for blocks per set (2.88), the Broncos are ranked second in MW for hitting percentage (.242), opponents' hitting percentage (.167), kills per set (13.26), assists per set (12.02) and third for digs per set (14.87).

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE: The perennial MW powerhouse is 6-5 overall heading into the week and are coming off a 3-1 home victory over Fresno State last weekend. The Rams return only their libero from last year's starters and seven letterwinners. CSU won the MW last year going 29-2 overall and 18-0 in conference.

The Rams are led by Breana Runnels who is averaging 4.05 kills per set, third in the MW. As a team, Colorado State is hitting .226 (MW 4th) and averaging 12.83 kills (MW 3rd) per set, 11.85 assists (MW 3rd), 14.71 digs (MW 4th) and 1.76 blocks (MW 9th).

SCOUTING AIR FORCE: The Falcons enter the week at 6-6 overall heading into the week and will host Wyoming on Thursday. Air Force is coming off a road split at Utah State (W 3-0, L 3-2) last week. The Falcons return five starters and the libero, as well as 11 letterwinners from last year's team that went 8-22 overall and 5-13 in MW play.

Air Force is led by Bailey Keith who is averaging 2.45 kills per set. As a team, AFA is hitting .201 (MW 6th) and averaging 12.61 kills (MW 4th) per set, 11.61 assists (MW 5th), 13.22 digs (MW 9th) and 1.74 blocks (MW 10th).

MW PRESEASON POLL: The Mountain West Preseason Coaches Poll projected Boise State to place fourth, Colorado State to win the title and Air Force to finish eighth.

THE BOISE STATE Vs. COLORADO STATE SERIES: This series enters its 20th meeting all-time with Colorado State dominating the Broncos 18-1 to date. The Rams lead the series in matches played at Fort Collins by a 10-0 margin; CSU swept Boise State 2-0 last year.

THE BOISE STATE Vs. AIR FORCE SERIES: The Boise State-Air Force series enters its 20th meeting all-time as well with Boise State holding a commanding 15-4 lead to date. The Broncos lead the series in matches played at USAFA by a 6-4 margin; Boise State won the lone match last year 3-1 in Boise.

SHAWN GARUS RECORDS 200TH WIN: Boise State head coach Shawn Garus recorded his 200th win at Boise State when the Broncos swept Utah State (Feb. 12-13) to reach the milestone with the second victory. Garus, who is in his 12th season with the program, currently stands at 206-147, his career record stands at 314-266 in 20 years. Garus ranks second in total wins in program history, out of 10 coaches all-time. At Boise State, he has recorded nine winning seasons overall, including an active streak of six straight. He has three seasons (2010, 2015, 2016) with 20-plus wins.

WEEK SEVEN RECAP: Last week Boise State lost for the first time at home this season 3-2 to San Diego State to move to 10-3 overall. The Blue and Orange had trouble establishing any consistency against the Aztecs as the two teams traded sets. SDSU won the first, third and fifth sets, while the Broncos played from behind and rallied twice winning the second and fourth to force it into a decisive fifth set. They rallied from five down in the fifth set to tie it at 13-13 before falling 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 24-26 and 15-13.

Boise State hit .157 percent with 59 kills, nine service aces and seven blocks, while SDSU countered at .236 percent hitting with 62 kills, eight service aces and 15 blocks.

WEEK SEVEN LEADERS: Lauren Ohlinger led Boise State with 17 kills and nine digs, Kayly Pau followed with 15 kills while hitting .302. Jessica Donahue added 11 kills to go with a team-high 3 blocks.

BRONCO SEASON LEADERS: Lauren Ohlinger — a six-rotation player — leads the team overall with 194 kills (4.13 kps), 108 digs (2.30 dps) and 22 blocks (0.47 bps). Freshman Kayly Pau is second in kills with 123 (2.62 kps) to go with 31 blocks (0.66). Jessica Donahue is hitting .376 — third in MW — for 98 kills (2.39 kps) with 66 blocks, she leads the MW and ranks fifth nationally for blocks per set at 1.61.

BOSS RANKED FIFTH FOR ASSISTS: Danielle Boss entered the season ranked eighth during the rally scoring era (2001 to present) at Boise State for career assists with 1,767, she had 1,113 as a sophomore in 2019. She has now moved into fifth with 2,080 overall.

BOSS DISTRIBUTING THE BALL: Danielle Boss enters the week leading the Mountain West for assists per set 9.78, her total of 450 which leads the MW.

DONAHUE RANKED SECOND NATIONALLY: Jessica Donahue is currently ranked fifth nationally and first in the MW for blocks per set at 1.61, her current total is a MW-high 66 (MW 1st).

DONAHUE ANCHORS THE BLUE WALL: Jessica Donahue started the season ranked fourth during the rally scoring era (2001 to present) at Boise State for career blocks with 298. She now sits at 364 overall heading into this weekend, five short of third. The junior tallied 163 in 2019, third most all-time and six short of tying the school record for a season. The 163 blocks also led the MW and was ranked 11th nationally.

KAMINSKI LEADS THE MW IN HITTING: Redshirt-freshman Annie Kaminski leads the Mountain West Conference for hitting percentage at .407.