Rams Aim to be at Their Best, Start to Finish

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – This is new. For the players, at least. Colorado State volleyball coach Tom Hilbert has been here before, and he knows it can be a wild ride.

The Mountain West played a conference tournament to decide the automatic NCAA berth for the first nine years of existence, then once again in 2011. In those 10 tournaments, the No. 1 seed – which Colorado State is heading into the three-day affair Nov. 24-26 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas – has won just twice, and Colorado State was that team each time.

Considering there is little time to prepare for a match, and the Rams don't even know exactly who they will be playing Thursday with a bye in the first round, teams will rely on what they already know about their opponent from earlier in the season.

The Rams will play either No. 4 UNLV or No. 5 New Mexico (they play Wednesday at 5 p.m. MT) on Thursday at 5 p.m.

"The coaches went and watched some film of the last weekend of the two teams who are playing to play us," Hilbert said. "But we know tendencies. There is not a whole lot new going on. The best thing will be our players watching the quarterfinal match."

Setter Ciera Pritchard feels that is actually an advantage. She said game film helps, but it's not always the most up-to-date, nor is it always high quality. It does help.

Just not as much as seeing a team play live the night before you play them. To her, that provides a much better scouting report in this type of format.

"Usually watching in film, it's not the best quality, or it's a few matches ago. It's not as great as watching it live, and you don't see it as well as watching it live," she said. "You can also watch how the teams communicate with each other. Watching that and seeing what decisions they make in a live format is better, because then we're primed to see that.

"Film, the coaches put that together for us and they put together a nice compilation. Watching it live, we'll be able to see the entirety of a match, how they get into their heads, what things really get them to struggle and what rotations they struggle in."

Again, there are few secrets among the teams in the Mountain West, and the Rams know when and how they are vulnerable. Normally, it happens on the road, and specifically, when they do not pass or serve well. Those two things are crucial to their success.

It's also possible they'll be facing a UNLV team on its home court. Whoever it is, the Rams will have one practice to get it all right.

"The keys for me are feeling fresh and playing with more passion than your opponents," Hilbert said. "They'll have to play that way. I hope they will. I think they are wired that way.

"That has to come from their motors. We've all got to play and put ourselves in fourth gear and stay in it. When I say that, I don't want them to get overhyped. I want them to get to a level where they're playing hard and focused and flow and just try to stay there."

Which means being ready to go and hopefully be there for two consecutive days.

In preparation, the team has had shorter practices as of late to remain fresh, but they've had to be diligent in their use of time, too. The result has been focused practice sessions dealing with the matter at hand. That means being at their best for an extended amount of time. They may not be able to prepare fully for the opponent, but they can prep themselves for what makes them successful.

"That's important. I especially think with practices, since they've been shorter, we have to make sure we're on for that short amount of time and making sure we're preparing and getting better," defensive specialist Alyssa Bert said. "Bringing our 'A' game is the first priority, but after that, remembering what these other teams have, because we don't have a lot of prep time for the matches. We won't know who we play, but I think remembering and being on your 'A' game comes first."

The Mountain West has had a shift in membership since the first tournament, but Colorado State owns the most tournament titles with five. The Rams, New Mexico and UNLV are the only three teams who have qualified for all 11 tournaments.

Wednesday's quarterfinals begin with No. 3 San Jose State facing No. 6 Boise State at 2 p.m. MT. That winner will play No. 2 Utah State at the same time Thursday. Friday's championship match is slated for 2 p.m.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results