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FORT COLLINS — At least for this milestone, Tom Hilbert was around friends.
A lot of them.
A crowd of 4,418 filled Moby Arena on Saturday night to witness the Colorado State volleyball coach notch career victory No. 600 as his No. 10 Rams took down Nevada in straight sets, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19. It makes him just the 10th coach in NCAA history to hit the total with a winning percentage of .770 or better, as Hilbert sits at .773 with the 23rd victory of the season for the Rams.
“I think being at home is so much better,” junior outside hitter Marlee Reynolds said. “We have 4,000 people here to see it. Tom is such a great coach, and he really deserves this. I’m so proud to be on his team that won that 600th match.”
Last year, Hilbert picked up the 400th victory of his CSU tenure in a road match at Northern Colorado. His record at the school now stands at 426-104 as the Rams moved to 23-0 on the season, 14-0 in the Mountain West.
After the win, Hilbert met with his team on the court, then acknowledged the applause from the fans.
Much like a season ago, Hilbert was more inclined to take a backseat with the accomplishment, handing all the credit to his players.
“It feels weird to me to be out there and people cheering for me and I’m waving like I’ve done something, because these guys played the match,” he said. “This milestone means, I started coaching as a head coach at age 29, and that was 25 years ago. I’ve been doing this my whole life as an adult. I’m fortunate as hell to have this job. It’s a job that lots of people just dream about having.
“I have 600 wins because I’ve been pretty consistently good over the past 20-some years, but I’ve been a coach all that time, and I’ve gotten to do a pretty cool job. That’s what 600 to me means, but they’re the ones playing the game. They win these games. I sit over there and scowl and do that kind of crap.”
His current team is two wins shy of clinching at least a share of the conference title, which would mark the fifth straight for the program and the 12th regular season title in Hilbert’s 17-year tenure at the school.
And while Hilbert may downplay his role in the reaching of milestones, the players will be the first to tell you it’s not just them making it possible. And for the current group that has been on hand to witness his two latest, it means a lot to have been apart of them.
“I think it’s awesome, just because Tom is such a great coach, and knowing he’s had so much experience coaching and just being able to listen to his knowledge every day is pretty cool,” Culbert said. “I like it a lot. He’s a pretty cool coach.”
A statement that made Hilbert, who is 17th among active coaches for career wins and 10th in winning percentage and 15th all-time for winning percentage, laugh.
Hard.
“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “Listen to my knowledge every day. That’s very nice.”
When he was done laughing, he did say that his “knowledge” led him to switch Culbert from a setter to a hitter, and she came through once again. He asked setter Deedra Foss (44 assists) to set her a little more, and Culbert came through with 11 kills on a team-best 23 swings with just two hitting errors.
It was a total matched by Reynolds, with Michelle Lawrence and Kelsey Snider collecting eight each. Lawrence posted her numbers in just two sets, while Acacia Andrews turned her second start into seven kills and a team-best four blocks.
She started in place of Sam Peters, the MW leader in hitting percentage, to give the senior a bit of rest for her ailing back and knee. She was available if needed, but after a slow start, the Rams turned it into a basic night.
“We had in our minds that their record isn’t that great, and I think it took us a little bit longer to get into the swing of the game that we play,” Culbert said. “They played really well as a team, and they competed with us, which is always good to have on a game night.”
The 23 straight wins match the program record for the longest winning streak as the Rams never allowed the Wolf Pack (2-23, 0-13) to get into a rhythm, hitting just .174.
Conversely, the Rams hit .323 on the night and Jaime Colaizzi finished with 11 digs. What Hilbert liked is Nevada never had any long runs, a prime reason he points to why his team is still undefeated on the season. Point by point, the Rams have a focus that doesn’t stray.
“It’s what’s going on in body language and composure and stuff between whistles that these guys are just really good at it,” he said.
Mike Brohard can be reached at 635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and @mbrohard
