As Thanksgiving approaches, two Colorado college programs still are undefeated as they wind down their seasons. I’ve written major features about both of them during the year and thought I’d catch up with them here. Their constituencies, of course, certainly don’t need to be told any of this, but it’s at least fair to argue that both programs probably haven’t gotten the attention they “deserve” from the Denver media, both in this season and seasons past.
I’m talking about football’s Colorado State-Pueblo Thunderwolves and volleyball’s Colorado State Rams.
The Tom Hilbert-coached CSU volleyball team is 25-0 and ranked 10th in the country, and already has clinched its fifth consecutive Mountain West title with four matches remaining in the regular season. That means the Rams will get the league’s automatic bid and make the program’s 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament.
One of the challenges of watching the Rams is trying to keep up with the dizzying substitutions, but by the end of the match I attended (against Utah State) I almost had it figured out. And it was clear that the sport’s statistics — as can be the case in other sports, of course — can be a bit misleading about which players are making the most significant contributions. So I was able to discern that junior setter Deedra Foss might be the Rams’ most valuable player, playing the selfless role so well.
Elsewhere in the sport of digs, blocks and kills, the Rams are getting major contributions from senior Samantha Peters, juniors Marlee Reynolds and Kelsey Snider, sophomores Adrianna Culbert, Kaitlind Bestgen and Jaime Colaizzi, and true freshmen standouts Cassidy Denny and Michelle Lawrence. Interestingly, Hilbert even allows the true freshmen to speak to the media and they have been neither scarred nor distracted by the experience amid the extensive coverage the program gets in Northern Colorado.
“Our goal at the start of the season was to win the Mountain West, so I’m very proud of these players for accomplishing that goal,” Hilbert said last weekend. “However, we’re not satisfied. Now our focus is on winning all of our Mountain West games … I don’t want to let the air out of the balloon.”
Especially if the Rams win out and remain unbeaten, there’s a good chance CSU could be play host to first- and second-round matches on Dec. 6-7, and it’s even possible the four-team field there could include Colorado and/or the University of Denver, if either or both make the 64-team NCAA field.
Meanwhile, about 175 miles down Interstate 25, the Division II CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves — a revived program that resumed play in 2008 — have continued to dominate the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They finished 11-0 in the regular season, won the league title outright for the third consecutive season, drew a first-round bye in the national playoffs and will host a second-round game against either Saginaw Valley or Grand Valley State at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl on Nov. 30.
“It’s pretty special, we’ve done something only a few teams ever done,” head coach John Wristen said after the regular season-ending Saturday victory over Western State. “If you told us when we started this in August, this chapter of this team, I didn’t know whether we were prepared to do it. These kids kept playing, and playing hard each week and we kept getting better. I’m very proud of them.”
Stepping in for the graduated Ross Dausin at quarterback, Chris Bonner has had a strong year, throwing for 3,116 yards and 30 touchdowns. He’s a junior transfer from Grossmont JC in California. Sophomore running backs Cameron McDondle, from Columbine High, and Chris Ashe, from Colorado Springs’ Widefield High, have combined for 1,610 yards on the ground.
Defensively, junior defensive end Darius Allen from Pueblo East High has 13.5 sacks and 19 tackles for losses, and sophomore linebacker Ben Estica from Palm Beach, Fla. (and I bet there’s a story there), is the leading tackler with 82.
The ThunderWolves’ games at the little gem of a stadium adjacent to campus are a fun experience, and the other major attraction is that the pre- or post-game routine can include a trip to one of the several establishments in town that serve a version of the famous Pueblo Slopper.
Heck, I bet some days it’s even the Lunch Special.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com
Visit denverpost.com each weekday near noontime for a serving of dish concerning Colorado’s sporting landscape from a Denver Post sports writer. Care for another helping? Scan the Lunch Special menu.
