Taking Full Advantage of What They Have Back

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – What didn't happen last year is happening now. Much of it has already taken place.

The eight newcomers to the Colorado State volleyball roster a season ago are finally getting to dive into the activities associated with team bonding off the court. So too are this season's three newcomers. Be it a movie night, a trip to Horsetooth or touring Old Town and doing promotional activities, it all helps.

"We told the freshmen and anyone who asked, we're basically freshmen," said Kennedy Stanford. "We haven't done any of this; it's all new. Outside of getting out here and practicing with each other, this will all be new for us. It's kind of a repeat freshman year, and that's fun."

In fact, head coach Tom Hilbert is a big believer in all of those things and the importance they carry. He's also a big believer in preseason camp, and again, it's something the team didn't get to really experience a year ago.

With the season opener with South Dakota in 16 days (Aug. 27), each and every practice is something he wants to take advantage of to the fullest.

"We didn't get to have a camp last year. When we came back in for the spring, we had a week of this, where we were doing things in this fashion with load management," Hilbert said after the Rams went through the first of two practices on Monday. "Last year, we were teaching eight people about the system, and this year we're teaching three of them. We don't have to teach as many people, and we have more maturity. There are simple things we don't have to explain anymore.

"To me, the most important thing that happened last year was we had some real deficiencies, and they knew it. So, you can coach until you're blue in the face, but the best motivator is for players to understand we've got to get better at this."

They do. The first thing is blocking, though that is a broad assessment with detailed layers for Hilbert. The other is being more terminal at the net. Both of them fall under the umbrella of needing repetition, which is what two practices a day will provide.

They are quick sessions; no longer than 90 minutes each, with time built in for recovery and to not burden the athletic training staff. Kennedy Stanford, who started to build up a nice resume for herself last season, is excited to get to the full introduction to Colorado State volleyball a year after her arrival.

Last year showed her aspects of her game she wanted to improve. This camp, she can come in with a focused approach and do so with the confidence gained from a shortened season.

"I think it's kind of a baseline, so you are able to know what you need to know and what you need to work on. It is easier to come into camp and not be, 'I just need to be a better player,'" she said. "I can say these are the things I need to work on. I want to come out of camp that I'm hitting the ball harder, I'm blocking better and I'm doing certain, more specific things better. I want to work on how terminal I am. I know I can control the ball and put it where I want, so now it's putting it in the spots where I'm scoring points. Blocking is always a focus, and we as a team want to defend well, so do my part and be a good blocker at the net and a good defender in the back row."

Blocking has been a pride and joy of Hilbert's programs through the years, but it was not a strong suit for the Rams as they went 9-6 during a conference-only season. The Rams ranked just 10^th in the conference in blocks per set (1.75), which led to the real number Hilbert has his team directed at in camp.

Maddy McCormick

"Here's how I put it. It is blocking, but it isn't the number of blocks, because people begin to think that's the stat we're looking at," he said. "The stat we're looking at is defensive hitting percentage, what our opponents are hitting. It was 100 points higher last year than it was the year before. It hit our players in the mouth, to a degree. We couldn't stop people half the time.

"It's the ability to shut somebody down. There really was only one match last year where I said our game plan fully worked, and that was Boise State."

On the other end of the spectrum, the also have room for growth. Thy ranked fourth in kills per set (12.91) and fifth in hitting percentage (.226), and while that put them in the upper half of the Mountain West, those are areas where they are normally top three if not leading the pack outright.

The next three weeks will help Hilbert and his staff work out some lineup possibilities, because what the Rams do have along the front row is flexibility with players who can be put at multiple positions. A prime example is Sasha Colombo, who started the year as an opposite hitter but closed as a middle blocker, earning honorable mention All-Mountain West in the process.

She enters camp knowing she'll see time at multiple spots, but not really caring where she finds a home, at least not specifically.

"I honestly love being able to help the team wherever I can. I don't know if I'll be playing middle or right side," she said. "I just show up, do my work, do what they ask me to do and I try to help the team wherever I can. I'm excited to show the younger players you can do more than one thing on the volleyball court.

"I enjoyed playing middle. I felt like I got set more and I was a bit more involved in the game, it's just a lot more blocking. I'm not really sure what I prefer to do. My answer is playing, so anything that gets me on the court is great."

Jacqi Van Liefde and Alyssa Groves can relate. Newcomers Maddy McCormick and Annie Sullivan will be tested in the same manner, be it pin-to-pin or across the board.

They key to landing in the rotation is simple for Hilbert: being able to put the ball on the floor.

"That decision is going to be made on terminal ability," he said. "Our kill percentage has to go up. The people who are going to play are going to be people who are getting kills. How they do it, I don't care."

But they'll have to be able to block. There is confidence in a back row of defenders led by All-Mountain West libero Alexa Roumeliotis, but the group needs help. Hilbert believes there are Rams on roster who are more than physically capable of being blockers, but the whole system has to be organized.

They didn't have a real chance to set up that system last season. Not with a week of work before the season. And as matches are rushing by, the time to work on those systems is cut down as game plans are being interjected into practices.

Most of the team has been on campus since June. They've all done individual session work and small-group workouts, and they did run open gyms where all were invited. All of those things are good.

Just, to Hilbert, not as good as a full camp. A chance to introduce something in the morning and work on it again in the afternoon. To really teach a concept and reiterate the point a few hours later. Then do it again.

"I want to get a lot out of it. I really want them to understand what it is we need to be better at going into the very first match," Hilbert said. "Do they have to be great at it? I think it's unrealistic to think that. It's unrealistic to think we have to be at this peak the minute we play our first match. In 2019, I could say that, because we had all of those returners. We at least have to have an understanding of what we're supposed to be."

In the past, that was Mountain West champions. Year after year for a decade and longer at a time. To head to the NCAA Tournament at the end of each season. Those were not just goals, but rather expectations.

They still are, and the next three weeks are being used to return down that path. Improving aspects, building off those gains and moving to the next box to check, be it individually or as a group. This year, the Rams get a chance to do that consistently for the next three weeks.

"We definitely have some team goals we're already setting, and one of them is being better at blocking and being more terminal with our first swing," Colombo said. "We're going to have a meeting soon to set all of these statistical goals, and just trying to match these numbers for this season. We obviously want to win the Mountain West and play our best volleyball in December, so were just working toward that."

Ninety minutes at a time, twice a day for the next three weeks. Hilbert's aim is the max out all of this time they once again have with each other. On and off the court.

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