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Kirstie Hillyer awarded for dominant performance

Tyler Meguire

October 14, 2019

The No. 14 nationally-ranked Colorado State women’s volleyball team just keeps winning, as a team and as individuals.

Senior Kirstie Hillyer has been a key contributor for the Rams this season. Hillyer is second on the team in kills with 154 and second on the team in blocks with 72. On Monday, Hillyer received Mountain West Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week for the first time since outside hitter Breana Runnels won the award in back-to-back weeks in mid-September. And surprise, the Rams went 2-0 this weekend in two sweeps.

girl stands — Kirstie Hillyer (13) calls for a touch against the University of New Mexico Lobos. (Luke Bourland | The Collegian)

In the matchup against Fresno State, Hillyer tallied a 0.636 hitting percentage. Against San Diego State, she racked up a 0.667 hitting percentage to finish the weekend with an impressive 0.655 hitting average with no hitting errors.

Some athletes rely on accuracy, and some rely on power. Hillyer displayed both last weekend. She had seven kills against Fresno State.

One of her kills marked a huge milestone for her: the 1000th kill of her Rams career. Hillyer’s milestone came the game after she recorded 500 career blocks in a win against the Air Force Academy.

In the matchup against SDSU, Hillyer dominated with 12 kills, bringing her weekend total to 19 and an average of 3.17 kills per set. Even with all the activity on the net, Hillyer did not commit a single hitting error over the weekend.

The Rams are not new to awards. This marks CSU’s fourth Mountain West Peak Player of the Week award for the season. Hillyer’s Offensive Player of the Week is her first of the season and the sixth of her career.

The Rams have a record of 16-1 (6-0 in conference), and that one loss came in their second match of the season. Since Aug. 31, the Rams have won 15 straight games, holding the opposition to a .105 hitting mark.

CSU will look to continue its streak on the road this Thursday against Boise State. Then, they will travel to Logan to face off against Utah State on Oct. 19.

Tyler Meguire can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @TMeguire.

About the Contributor

Devin Cornelius, Digital Managing Editor

Devin Cornelius is the digital managing editor for The Collegian. He is a fifth-year computer science major from Austin, Texas. He moved to Colorado State University and started working for The Collegian in 2017 as a photographer. His passion for photography began in high school, so finding a photography job in college was one of his top priorities. He primarily takes sports photos, volleyball being his favorite to shoot. Having been on The Collegian staff for 4 1/2 years, he's watched the paper evolve from a daily to a weekly paper, and being involved in this transition is interesting and exciting. Although Cornelius is a computer science major, his time at The Collegian has been the most fulfilling experience in his college career — he has loved every second. From working 12-hour days to taking photos in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference, he cannot think of a better place to work. Working as a photographer for The Collegian pushed him outside of his comfort zone, taking him places that he never expected and making him the photographer he is today. As the digital managing editor, Cornelius oversees the photos, graphics and social media of The Collegian along with other small tech things. Working on the editorial staff with Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis has been super fun and extremely rewarding, and together they have been pushing The Collegian toward being an alt-weekly. Outside of The Collegian, he enjoys playing volleyball, rugby, tumbling and a variety of video games. When in Austin, you can find him out on the lake, wake surfing, wake boarding and tubing. You can expect that Cornelius and the rest of The Collegian staff will do their best to provide you with interesting and exciting content.

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