FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Alexandra Poletto had 11 kills, hit. 733 and claimed five blocks as No. 25 Colorado State defeated North Dakota State 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-23) in the season opener for both teams in Moby Arena.
 
North Dakota State (0-1) is scheduled to play at Northern Colorado at 8 p.m. CT Saturday, Aug. 27, in Bank of Colorado of Arena at Greeley.
 
The Bison lost a see-saw first set to Colorado State. The Rams built an 11-7 lead early, but NDSU went on a 5-1 run and tied the score at 12-all on an Emily Miron kill. There were 11 ties, the last at 24-24 on a CSU service error. However, service and attack error pushed the Rams to a 26-24 win.
 
Colorado State bolted out to an early lead didn't look back in a 25-13 victory in set two. The Rams pounded out seven service aces to highlight the second set.
 
Poletto caught fire in set three to help Colorado State hold off North Dakota State. The Bison were hitting .131 after two sets, but connected for a .278 percentage in the third to finish at .186. The Rams hit .387 overall and collected 10 team blocks, with five each from Jasmine Hanna and Poletto. Hanna led all hitters with 12 kills.
 
Hadley Steffen led NDSU with 10 kills and hit .333. Emily Minnick connected for five for seven kills in the third set. Brianna Rasmusson had 19 assists, while Morgan Morgan came up with 11 digs.