Pritchard Navigates Rams Offensive Ebbs and Flows

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Newsflash. Tom Hilbert likes to have things done a certain way, and at specific points in a match, he's more direct about those intentions.

But every now and again, his setter, Ciera Pritchard, will tell him no.

"I'm a very direct communicator, so I don't have a problem with that," Colorado State's junior setter said. "I think Tom can be an intimidating guy to some people, I'm just matter of fact. I can't set this girl tonight. I have to set someone else."

He chuckles recalling those particular moments this season, even the ones where she's been the most direct with him.

"She's done that. I do appreciate that," he said, then laughed harder when asked if she always does it politely.

"It depends on the moment."

This season, with his Colorado State volleyball team sitting at 13-6 overall and leading the Mountain West at 9-1, there have been plenty of those moments. The reason being, the Rams are not a consistent hitting team. None of them know which hitters will be hot at the pins, or even with the middles. Night after night, it is somebody new, and it doesn't always correspond to the game plan.

It could make life for the setter very complicated, Hilbert said, but he feels Pritchard is perfectly wired to handle it, which is why it's working.

"I think this team, every match we play, it's a different puzzle that has to get figured out," Hilbert said as his team prepares for a road swing this week which takes them first to Air Force, then New Mexico. "I think if a setter comes in here and is too programed, they're going to struggle. Ciera is not. She is, in terms of competitiveness and trying to get the ball to people who are going to help her win, she's always done that very well. I think what she's having to learn is keep everybody involved as much as you can."

You flash back just to the 2019 season, and Colorado State's five primary attackers combined for five matches out of 31 where they hit in negative numbers with at least five swings. This year, the Rams already have nine with eight matches remaining in the regular season.

The flip side: This year's group of pins and middles have produced 36 matches where individually they've hit .300 or better, an average of 1.89 per night. The 2019 group did it 64 times, an average of 2.06. The numbers are not that far off.

This year's group can be extremely hot or run cold. Instead of getting frustrated, Pritchard views it as a positive.

"I was always taught to be a setter who distributes the ball to who is going to get the kill, so if a hitter's not doing well, then I notice it right away and then I can just move the ball to someone else," she said. "I can try to bring the ball back to them eventually, to boost their spirits and try to get them back in the game, but if it's not their night, I can rely on somebody else, recognize that and set that specific player who is doing well that night in a way they're going to get a kill. That's my job. A setter is a servant role. You have to be able to make everyone look good even if you don't get all the credit."

The line can be hard to walk at times. A player may start cold, but find a groove in a later set. Pritchard is cognizant of the fact. Yet part of the reason Hilbert has seen her handle the ebb and flow of the season and even particular matches is the underlying fact his setter is darn competitive and wants to win.

Whatever route she needs to find, she'll search for it intently, but every now and then, he has had to guide her back.

"She's really a good person for that. The areas she's improved in since the beginning of the season are, No. 1, she's getting a feel for the tempos that work for each player that can really help them open a block up," Hilbert said. "She also likes to do new things, so we've been throwing some new stuff in there to keep everybody fresh, and she likes doing that.

"She will sometimes go away from a player for a long period of time, and that's not what I always want to happen. The more you let somebody go, if they're in a slump, the worse it will get."

But she has to be quick on her feet, more so with her eyes, to not let a particular set get out of control.

It's a judgement call, for sure, one based off the knowledge she takes from the scouting report and the game plan it produces.

"I wouldn't do it after the first or second, but after the third swing, a three-strikes-you're-out kind of thing. Hey, that's the third error, or the third fluff ball that's not getting kills," Pritchard said of her thought process, "I'm going to move the ball around a little bit. Maybe the team is stacking the block on a particular player, so I'll move the ball to somebody else.

"It's not exactly ideal to have somebody being off, because then the other is going to recognize that and key on the player who is doing well. So then you throw a bone to the other player, to make sure my player is staying warm, the other team is staying honest and maybe the other player will get a kill to get them going."

There is no exact science to any of this for Pritchard, nor has there been for the coaching staff this season. Night after night, somebody has been off, but night after night, somebody else has produced. It's working so far, and while the goal for all of them is to gain more consistency hitting as the Mountain West tournament approaches, you do what you can to win matches.

The Rams are doing that. Besides, Pritchard said while it would be beneficial to have a solid go-to every night, it would be boring, too. At least for her.

"It would be cool to have, but it's not exactly like we're, 'yes, let's please just get a kill horse where I feed the horse all day and all night," she said. "I'd say it's nice to be able to distribute my offense evenly, then everybody gets the credit. It's a team environment and not a one-man show. It makes my job more exciting, because I can set more balls than just go, go, go."

And just maybe, part of the excitement is walking over to Hilbert and telling him no. The thing is, she's probably not wrong.

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