Colorado State University Athletics
NIVC Provides Rams Further Growth Opportunity
12/1/2021 12:00:00 PM | Volleyball
Extra matches, longer season all beneficial
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – More games is good. More meaningful games is even better.
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But a lengthened season may be the best part about Colorado State qualifying for the National Invitational Volleyball Championships, with the Rams hosting matches the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday at Moby Arena.
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"It's not just extra matches. It is, but it's also teaching them the duration of a season," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "If you're going to be an NCAA Tournament team and do well, you have to learn to play 16 weeks, 17 weeks instead of 14, which is a normal regular season. That's the biggest benefit of it, and it's new people; you have to learn to adjust on the fly."
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The Rams (18-10) will face Houston Baptist (21-8) at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, following the conclusion of the first matchup between Tulsa (14-15) and UTEP (21-7) which begins at 5 p.m. The two winners will face each other Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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If it reaches Friday's match, Colorado State will have doubled the amount of matches played a season ago during a shortened pandemic schedule in the spring. This is the second year the Rams have not reached the NCAA field after a run of 23 in a row, so for the younger set on the roster, this is a great chance to build endurance and understand the grind required to reach their ultimate goals.
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"That's really awesome, the fact that this is like practice for our young team to go into a postseason and experience a postseason," setter Ciera Pritchard said. "Now, this isn't like traveling for the postseason or playing at a giant Pac-12 school, but it's still going into the postseason, having that elongated season most of the upperclassmen are used to. We're already 15-20 games past what all of the sophomores and below have experienced because last spring was a tiny season."
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The Rams shared the Mountain West regular-season title with Utah State, but they were knocked out of the Mountain West tournament in the first round, and sixth-seeded Boise State went on to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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Hilbert has taken a look at the NIVC bracket from top to bottom and has assessed it is filled with some very strong teams, staring with overall top seed Arkansas. Still, it's a field he believes his team can handle, and if they do, it would extend the campaign another three weeks.
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"As I've looked at these teams, they're pretty damn good," he said. "UTEP is scary. This is good. This is like an NCAA deal, so I'm excited about it. This is a winnable tournament for us. If you put any of these teams in our non-conference preseason, I would think they are winnable matches."
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At the close of the season, Colorado State was a team which was still improving in areas, but also still striving to attain consistency in their play across the board. The longer they can stay in the draw, the more chances they have of achieving additional goals and setting the roster up with confidence at the start of the 2021-22 season.
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That's not lost on Pritchard, an all-conference performer. The fact every match from here on out carries one-and-done pressure only amplifies what all is on the line.
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"There's a huge benefit. The high-stakes games, there's more adrenaline," she said. "I think people can have a tendency to play harder in those situations. We return a lot of players next year. The only ones we don't return are Alexa Roumeliotis and Alyssa Bert, and that's huge for us offensively; we don't lose any hitters. I still get a ton of reps with hitters, and for them to play in that do-or-die situation where you have to play low error and get a lot of kills, that's super important for us."
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Houston Baptist entered the Southland Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed, but was upset in the first round by McNeese State. Tulsa enters the weekend having dropped three consecutive matches, while UTEP reached the Conference USA semis, where it was swept by No. 18 Western Kentucky, which went on to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
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But a lengthened season may be the best part about Colorado State qualifying for the National Invitational Volleyball Championships, with the Rams hosting matches the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday at Moby Arena.
Â
"It's not just extra matches. It is, but it's also teaching them the duration of a season," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "If you're going to be an NCAA Tournament team and do well, you have to learn to play 16 weeks, 17 weeks instead of 14, which is a normal regular season. That's the biggest benefit of it, and it's new people; you have to learn to adjust on the fly."
Â
The Rams (18-10) will face Houston Baptist (21-8) at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, following the conclusion of the first matchup between Tulsa (14-15) and UTEP (21-7) which begins at 5 p.m. The two winners will face each other Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Â
If it reaches Friday's match, Colorado State will have doubled the amount of matches played a season ago during a shortened pandemic schedule in the spring. This is the second year the Rams have not reached the NCAA field after a run of 23 in a row, so for the younger set on the roster, this is a great chance to build endurance and understand the grind required to reach their ultimate goals.
Â
"That's really awesome, the fact that this is like practice for our young team to go into a postseason and experience a postseason," setter Ciera Pritchard said. "Now, this isn't like traveling for the postseason or playing at a giant Pac-12 school, but it's still going into the postseason, having that elongated season most of the upperclassmen are used to. We're already 15-20 games past what all of the sophomores and below have experienced because last spring was a tiny season."
Â
The Rams shared the Mountain West regular-season title with Utah State, but they were knocked out of the Mountain West tournament in the first round, and sixth-seeded Boise State went on to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Â
Hilbert has taken a look at the NIVC bracket from top to bottom and has assessed it is filled with some very strong teams, staring with overall top seed Arkansas. Still, it's a field he believes his team can handle, and if they do, it would extend the campaign another three weeks.
Â
"As I've looked at these teams, they're pretty damn good," he said. "UTEP is scary. This is good. This is like an NCAA deal, so I'm excited about it. This is a winnable tournament for us. If you put any of these teams in our non-conference preseason, I would think they are winnable matches."
Â
At the close of the season, Colorado State was a team which was still improving in areas, but also still striving to attain consistency in their play across the board. The longer they can stay in the draw, the more chances they have of achieving additional goals and setting the roster up with confidence at the start of the 2021-22 season.
Â
That's not lost on Pritchard, an all-conference performer. The fact every match from here on out carries one-and-done pressure only amplifies what all is on the line.
Â
"There's a huge benefit. The high-stakes games, there's more adrenaline," she said. "I think people can have a tendency to play harder in those situations. We return a lot of players next year. The only ones we don't return are Alexa Roumeliotis and Alyssa Bert, and that's huge for us offensively; we don't lose any hitters. I still get a ton of reps with hitters, and for them to play in that do-or-die situation where you have to play low error and get a lot of kills, that's super important for us."
Â
Houston Baptist entered the Southland Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed, but was upset in the first round by McNeese State. Tulsa enters the weekend having dropped three consecutive matches, while UTEP reached the Conference USA semis, where it was swept by No. 18 Western Kentucky, which went on to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
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Players Mentioned
CSU Volleyball Players Press Conference - August 6
Thursday, August 07
Emily Kohan Press Conference - August 6
Thursday, August 07
Colorado State Volleyball: Building Champions to Win Championship
Monday, May 05
2024 Colorado State Volleyball
Thursday, February 13