Broncos Fall 3-1 to Colorado State

Saturday, November 9

Boise, Idaho

Noon MT

Boise State

16-9,8-5Mountain West

Colorado State

16-8,12-2Mountain West

Colorado St.

Boise St.

11/9/2024 3:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – Paige Bartsch had a season-high 23 kills, but it was not enough as the Boise State volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-15, 25-16, 25-27, 25-22) to Mountain West leader Colorado State in Bronco Gym.

With the loss, Boise State moved to 16-9 overall and 8-7 in conference play, good for sixth place; CSU improved to 16-8 overall and 12-2 in league.

Boise State opened the first set slow, while Colorado State came out fired up, racing out to a 12-2 lead. The Broncos attempted to rally but came up short as the Rams claimed the set 25-15.

In set two, the Rams gradually pulled away from the Broncos as Boise State struggled with consistency. Colorado State ended up taking the set by nine, 25-16.

The Blue and Orange regrouped for the third set, which featured four lead changes and 12 ties. Trailing 22-20, the Broncos rallied to tie it at 22-22. They were then forced to fight off two Colorado State match points (24-23, 25-24) to battle back behind three Bartsch kills and one by Kendall Hastings for a 27-25 win to force a fourth set.

The fourth set was tight as well. Boise State played from behind most of the way until rallying late to tie the score twice at 21-21 and 22-22. Unfortunately, they could not gain the lead as the Rams held off the Broncos for a 25-22 win to clinch the match 3-1.

TOP BRONCOS

Paige Bartsch recorded a season-tying-high 23 kills while hitting .250. She added a team-high three service aces and two block assists to finish with a team-best 27 points.
Kiersten Van Kirk was the only other Bronco with double-digit kills, finishing with 10 and three blocks.
Annie Kaminski hit .312 for seven kills to go with a team-high five blocks and finished with 10 points.
Bre Mitchell led the Broncos from the backline with a team-high 25 digs.

NOTABLES

Paige Bartsch's three service aces moved her into eighth place all-time for career aces with 133, passing Katy Shepard (1997-00), who had 132.
Bartsch's 23 kills marked the 21st match of the season with double-figure kills, sixth with 20-plus, and 79 career matches with double-digit kills, third most during the Rally Scoring Era.
Bre Mitchell's 25 digs marked the 22nd match of the year with double-digit digs, seventh with 20-plus this season and the 17th with 20-plus in her Boise State career.
This was only the second contest this year in which the Broncos were out served, as the Rams had a seven-to-five advantage in service aces.

QUOTABLES

Shawn Garus, head coach

"Well, I thought that after getting our butts kicked in the first two sets, I was really proud to see how we battled back and found ourselves in the match late, winning a tough third set and being right there in the 20s during the fourth set, that showed a lot about our team. But credit Colorado State; they came in and played great in all aspects of the game."
"I thought Bre (Mitchell) did a great job defensively. She stood in and took the biggest swings that Colorado State had, and when she made plays, it energized our gym and made our players believe. So, credit to Bre for her defensive effort today."
"I think Paige (Bartsch), like our team, started slow, but she was there for us when we needed her. When she started playing well, everybody started to believe."
"Today was a good battle against a great Colorado State team. We need to learn from this and be ready to win on the road next week."