Colorado State University Athletics
CSU volleyball releases 2016 schedule
5/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State volleyball team and Head Coach Tom Hilbert have announced its 2016 schedule, which is highlighted by consecutive non-conference home matches against 2015 NCAA runner-up Texas and fellow NCAA Tournament participant Wichita State, as well as a renewal of its series against in-state rival Colorado.
CSU's 2016 campaign begins at Moby Arena against North Dakota State at 7 p.m. MT on August 26, followed by a home meeting the next evening against St. Mary's. The pair of opening-weekend home matches are the first two of 14 to be played at Moby Arena next season.
The Rams will hit the road for their first match away from home on Aug. 30, taking on Northern Colorado in Greeley. CSU's next stop will be in California for a three-match tournament in Santa Barbara, Sept. 2-3. The Rams will play Baylor for the third time in four years, as well as Pittsburgh and host UC Santa Barbara.
Wichita State, who advanced to the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, and Texas, a perennial national title contender, will converge upon Moby Arena from Sept. 8-9. CSU will play the Shockers on Sept. 8, followed by a Friday night matchup against the Longhorns. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. MT and will likely draw large crowds into Moby Arena.
"That is the most challenging weekend of our pre-season," Hilbert said of the consecutive matches against Wichita State and Texas. "We're playing basically two top-25 teams back-to-back. I always see that as a great development opportunity for our team and it is great for the sport and the fans in Fort Collins, because they like to see high-quality volleyball."
CSU's homestand will continue with a single match against New Orleans on Sept. 16. The next day, the Rams will travel to Boulder for two matches, starting with Chicago State at 1 p.m. MT. CSU will then play Colorado for the first time in the regular season since 2010, and the first time away from Fort Collins since 2008.
"We've needed to do this for a couple of years," Hilbert said about renewing its series against Colorado. "Right now we are co-hosting events for the next two years, first at their place then at Moby Arena in 2017. This state is great for volleyball, and we need to showcase it."
The Rams' run for an eighth-consecutive Mountain West championship will begin at home as Fresno State and San Jose State will come to Fort Collins to kick off conference play on Sept. 22 and 24, respectively. The Rams will also play their final match of the season at home against Wyoming on Nov. 22. As always, CSU will play eight league teams twice (San Jose State, Fresno State, Utah State, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State, Nevada and Wyoming). CSU will play Boise State (away) and Air Force (home) just once each.
"The only thing that I don't like is that we don't get Boise State at home," Hilbert said about the league slate. "Only playing them once mathematically may be good for us in terms of the conference championship, but I like to play the best teams at home and we won't get that against Boise State this year. I like that we play Wyoming in the middle of the conference season and to close the year. There's some challenging parts to it, but you deal with what you're given in conference. Sometimes we benefit from an unbalanced schedule, but I'm not sure we do this year."
In 2015 the Rams won their seventh straight Mountain West title and made their 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. CSU went unbeaten in league play, going 18-0 and winning 20 straight matches to close the regular season, and held a 16-1 record at home. Under Head Coach Tom Hilbert, the Rams have won nearly 90 percent of their games at Moby Arena, with a home record of 272-31 since 1997.
For information on purchasing single-match or season tickets, contact the CSU ticket office at 1-800-491-RAMS or by visiting www.csurams.com/tickets.