CSU volleyball continues to be one of most efficient teams in the nation

The CSU volleyball team made quick work of visiting UNLV on Saturday.

The 23rd-ranked Rams swept the Rebels 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-8) in a match that lasted just over an hour in front of 2,386 fans.

Offensive juggernaut — Colorado State University entered Saturday fifth in the nation in team hitting percentage at a .320 clip.

That number will only go up after the Rams hit .425 on Saturday. The interesting trend emerging is how many different weapons setter Katie Oleksak consistently sets up.

Jasmine Hanna, who reached 1,000 career kills on Thursday, led the team with 12 kills. Breana Runnels had nine, Kirstie Hillyer and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen had six each. CSU has three players in the top 10 in the Mountain West in hitting percentage, but just one in the top 10 in kills.

"In almost every one of our game plans what I've told Katie is we need to be as evenly distributed as possible," coach Tom Hilbert said. "I told her today it's her job to try and keep every hitter in a match."

Depth of the Rams — CSU (12-2, 2-0 Mountain West) is just now starting to show what its full rotation could be. Middle blockers Alexandra Poletto and Kirstie Hillyer are know healthy after knee injuries, practicing fully and working their way into game lineups.

Hilbert used the third set to take Hougaard-Jensen off the court to allow others more time. He says right now Hougaard-Jensen is the top middle and it's a pleasant "quandary" for him to find the best way to use all three.

He called Olivia Nicholson a "really good volleyball player" who needs more opportunities to play and wishes Jessica Jackson had more chances for swings on Saturday. The depth will require some patience and selflessness from the team, but it will likely serve them well as the season continues.

Suffocating defense — UNLV (4-11, 0-2 MW) was disjointed and could never find any success in its offense. The Rams held the Rebels to minus-.042 hitting and had 11 blocks.

Quotable — "There's definitely no pressure (on one hitter). I know Katie's going to put the ball to anyone and anyone can make a decent play. Coming off all these three game weekends (in nonconference play), now we're in conference and play two games a week everybody is fresh and everybody can hit at their highest level," redshirt freshman outside hitter Breana Runnels.

Road swing — After playing 11 of its first 14 matches at Moby Arena, the Rams now play four in a row on the road, starting with Wyoming (Tuesday) and Air Force (Saturday) in the coming week.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.

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