No. 20 CSU volleyball is starting out its conference season strong after a 3-0 sweep against Nevada (25-16, 25-21, 25-00) in the Rams’ first conference road trip of the season kept their Mountain West record perfect (3-0) Thursday night.

The Rams had a successful start to their in-conference games with one sweep against Utah State (3-0) and an intense match with Boise State that led to a win for the Rams (3-2). But Thursday’s bout marked the beginning of a weekend full of traveling for the Rams as they played in Reno, Nevada against the Wolf Pack, and head to San Diego, California to take on San Diego State University on Saturday.

No. 20 CSU volleyball was quick to attack against Nevada in the first set and clearly outplayed the Wolf Pack throughout the entire opening set.

The Rams looked promising against Nevada, but that sense of comfortable playing lasted only until the second set.

Set two was a neck and neck match between CSU and Nevada. The points went back and forth between each team, and the Rams struggled offensively against Nevada’s defense. CSU barely out-killed Nevada 39-37 throughout the three sets, which is a low kill score in and of itself. Alex Reid led the Rams in kills for the night with nine, while Jasmine Hanna and Acacia Andrews followed behind Reid, contributing eight kills each.

Although CSU swept Nevada 3-0, Nevada surpassed it in some statistical areas. Nevada out-attacked the Rams 97-85 and out-aced CSU 6-4. The Rams’ statistics suffered due to their performance in the second set, but they still managed to pull out a 25-21 win over Nevada to keep the sweep opportunity alive.

CSU’s sole shaky set was close, and for a few points, it looked as though this match would be going to at least four, as the Wolf Pack came close to evening the night 1-1. But the Rams closed out the second strong with a win and headed into the third hungry for the sweep.

In the third, CSU recalled its on-point execution from set one in the way the team played together. The Rams were quick to attack and minimized errors, which ultimately captured CSU volleyball the sweep over the Wolf Pack.

Nevada racked up 30 errors combining its mistakes in blocking, attacking and serving, while CSU had 14 errors total throughout the match. Unfortunately for Nevada, it lost the game due to errors.

Next, CSU volleyball heads back on the road for San Diego, California, where they will take on San Diego State University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. MT.

The Rams will head back to Colorado after the SDSU contest and get to practicing immediately to prepare to face New Mexico, Air Force Academy, and Wyoming at home all within the next week.

Collegian Sports Reporter Pia Myers can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @ByPiaMyers.