The CSU volleyball team will not only be battling Mountain West rival Boise State Thursday night, but will also be contributing to the fight against breast cancer.
Moby Arena’s Thursday night showdown has been labeled as CSU’s “Dig Pink” match in honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month.
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The event will have the Ram players wearing pink accessories from head to toe, and will provide fans with pink ribbons on top of encouraging them to wear pink of their own. The best student outfits will be awarded with prizes.
“We’re putting on this match in honor of breast cancer awareness because there are lots of people affected by this. Hopefully, with help from the ZTA sorority, we can get lots of people to the match to help the cause of raising awareness,” CSU’s Director of Operations Bri Olmstead said.
The match will also include an offensive shootout with one of the best ranked teams in the conference. The Broncos are currently riding a three match win streak that includes a pair of clutch MW victories against San Diego State and Nevada.
They plan on using their recent success as momentum to break the protective barrier that surrounds Moby, where CSU has been nearly perfect this year with a 10-1 record.
“We played well last weekend, but we know that we really need a big road win to get back into the hunt,” Boise State coach Shawn Garus said. “Colorado State is also coming off a big win so both teams are playing well headed into this game. Whoever comes out of this has a very good shot to compete for the conference title.”
On paper, the Rams have the size factor in their favor and their blocking should be able to match the Boise State attack fairly well. However, Garus is convinced that there is a way to work around it.
“When somebody is bigger than you, you try to do things to make them uncomfortable. We have to serve really well so that their bigger players aren’t at an advantage offensively and we have to pass well to find the splits in their big block. It comes down to controlling the first contact,” Garus said.
Boise State is dangerously talented when it comes to distributing the ball. They are currently sitting second in the MW and No. 42 nationally in assists per set with 13.01.
Great distribution is merely the framework for the impressive rankings the Boise State offense wears. Within the conference, the Broncos rank third in hitting percentage (.235), second in kills (13.79) and third in service aces per set (1.24).
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“They’re hot right now,” CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. “I know their coach and he’s very good. What he’s good at is preparation for you. He knows we’re preparing for them and he’s doing things to counter that.”
Volleyball Beat Reporter Quentin Sickafoose can be reached at sports@collegian.com.