Conference Slate Takes on New Meaning for Rams

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – No matter the experience level of his team, Tom Hilbert uses the non-conference portion of the schedule. What the maturity level of his roster dictates is what is being developed – the basics or advanced methods.

This year's Colorado State team very much resides in the former category, and through a 4-5 record which was filled with streaks, the veteran coach took in quite a bit, some of which he expected.

"I learned that we do have some challenges blocking that we have to continue to try to develop," he said. "I learned when the pins attack consistently, we can be a very good team. That is obviously a youth thing. When we're high-error, we tend to lose; when we're not high-error, even though our kill percentage is the same, we will win matches. Now what we're trying to do is hone in and figure out what are the real reasons for these errors. If we can do that and figure out how to coach them down to drop by two or three percent, we'll be in most of the matches we play."

The Rams begin Mountain West play at home on Thursday, but they do anything but ease into conference action. Boise State has been extremely impressive in the early going, posting an 11-1 mark, including a win over then-No. 10 Utah in four sets. On Saturday, Utah State comes to Fort Collins with an 8-4 mark.

The players have been learning, too, about themselves and about the squad overall. They are starting to get a feel for what clicks when they do, what ails them when they don't. The items Hilbert has on his list, they do, too.

"I think our serving and passing has been developing a lot," Jacqi Van Liefde said. "It's been cool to see improvements there, and that's going to carry over. Those same skills we need to work on even more, and I think blocking is another huge part of it. We've learned a lot in that area, but we have a long ways to go, I think. Those are skills we just need to continue to develop."

Van Liefde has grown into a positive development offensively, as has Annie Sullivan. Both of them have started to find a rhythm with their games in the system, build up some added confidence and are starting to look like go-to attackers. They can be even more effective if the Rams play in system, leading back to passing being a target for development.

Down the stretch, both Van Liefde and Sullivan have seen their attack percentages improve, leading to more kills per set. Van Liefde is up to 2.64 per, Sullivan at 2.51. For both of them, it required a little growth in their game and how they approach swings.

"I think a lot of that means more out-of-system sets and knowing when to take an intense swing on one of those versus when to manage it, and just expecting the ball more than I would have in the past," said Van Liefde, who has reached double-digit kills in three of the past four matches, hitting nine in the other. "I also need to learn to treat each point the same. Whether it's 24-23 or 0-0, when each set comes to me, I just need to take care of it."

But Hilbert stresses the team can't put the show on their shoulders, no matter how well the duo has been swinging; Sullivan had double-digit kill totals in each of the past four matches.

What has been missing so far is consistent production across the net, especially from the middles. Historically, they have been not a threat for the Rams, but potent attackers. While that's been seen in spurts this season, Hilbert said consistency needs to be achieved.

"We know who they are and what they can do," Hilbert said. "I think it's important we don't say now we're going to put the entire burden of winning on those two. That is not the answer. We've got to get the other pin positions worked out, we have to get more experience for Alyssa Groves, and we have to figure out how to get more kills out of the middle."

The importance of conference play holds new meaning this year with the addition of the tournament at the end. The top six teams will qualify for the chance to earn the automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Tournament, which comes from the MW tournament champ, not the regular season champion.

That alone means Hilbert can – and he says he has to – still work on developing this team to vie for the ultimate goal they all want.

"I think we have to. We still have a long way to go, and there are things roster wise we can still explore," he said. "I think we have to. It would be absolutely great to win the league, but if we're going to go to the NCAA tournament, we're going to have to be the AQ because we're 4-5 in non-conference."

Old goals die hard, however. There are new ones each season for individuals and the team, and one which remains a constant is the regular season championship. Colorado State didn't last year, with UNLV ending a three-year run and a stretch of 10 in 11 years. Make no doubt, the players feel with the right corrections, they can be in the hunt.

Still, the ultimate goal is to reach the NCAA field, and to do so, they have to approach the remainder of the schedule with that in mind. As Van Liefde said, Colorado State's program will always have a point to prove.

"We have specific statistical goals set for every skill in the game, and we're working toward those," she said. "If we meet those goals, we're going to have a good outcome in conference, and we're still expecting to be strong in conference. We're hoping to win it, and it's kinda cool that this year we have that tournament at the end. The top six teams go into that tournament, and I'm excited about that.

"All of this is development to that point."

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