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The Colorado State volleyball team finished the season at 28-1, with its only loss coming their second to last game of the season against San Diego State. A match that they were up 2-0, heading towards a sweep when the Aztecs roared back to win the third set and eventually the match. That loss ended up knocking the Rams out of contention of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA's. Instead they will be traveling to Los Angeles to start up against Cal State Northridge. The pod is hosted by USC who is the 6th overall seed in the field. The Rams will be playing against a tough Northridge team who won a share of the Big West title with Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara.
About Colorado State:
The Rams broke numerous team records as a team this year. The best start in team history 27-0, longest win streak in team history and best regular season record in team history 28-1. This team was projected to finish second to San Diego State but won the conference by 5 games. A young team that is led by redshirt junior Deedra Foss who averages nearly 12 assists per set. Kelsey Snider, Samantha Peters, Andrianna Culbert and Marlee Reynolds are huge assets to this team. The part that challenges teams more is that Foss has so many options to go to because there's no true go to player. Throw in Freshmen Michelle Lawrence and bench player Acacia Andrews this team is dangerous. This team is one of two teams (Stanford) that are in the top 10 nationally in kills, and blocks.
About Cal State Northridge:
The Matadors are coming into the tourney with a 23-6 record finishing with 13-3 record winning a share of the conference title with Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara. They're led by senior Mahina Haina who recently joined the 1,000 kills club along with junior Natalie Allen. Due to having tiebreakers over both Hawaii and Santa Barbara, the Matadors have the automatic berth to the NCAA's. Sydney Gedryn, and Casey Hinger were also all Big West selections.
Outlook:
The NCAA only ranks the top 16 overall seeds for volleyball unlike basketball who ranks all 64 or 68 seeds. If they were to do like basketball then this would be the 7 vs 10 seed match up in the Los Angeles region. This game will be a huge test for the Rams seeing that their non conference slate wasn't much of a test for them. The Rams need to stick to their game in order to advance to play the winner of 15 New Hampshire and No. 2 (6th overall seed) USC.
Here is the complete bracket.