FORT COLLINS – A season that opened with 27 consecutive victories finished with a pair of defeats in the final three matches, and that didn’t sit well with the Colorado State volleyball team.
But it also won’t define the season for the Rams. They rose to No. 9 in the rankings at one point and were once again reminded how special the season was when three players were named to the All-Pacific North Region team on Tuesday, with coach Tom Hilbert being named the region coach of the year.
“It’s one of these deals when that was over, I said you define your entire body of work. That’s how you define how your season goes,” said Hilbert, who earned the award for the second time in three years despite restructured regions. “It’s the way I want to look at it. We got beat by a good team in a five-set match, it was a huge disappointment, but we played a great year and we won the Mountain West, which was our biggest goal. We build on all of that when we move into next year.”
Senior middle Sam Peters, setter Deedra Foss and opposite hitter Dri Culbert were all named to the all-region team.
Peters, a senior who was named the Mountain West player of the year, is one of four players nationally to have hit .400 on the year and average at least 1.4 blocks per set. In her only year starting for the Rams, her .402 hitting percentage ranks fifth best at the school.
Foss, the MW setter of the year, led the region with 11.76 assist per set, a number that is 10th nationally. The junior also led all region setters in hitting percentage, blocks per set, and her 1,282 assists moved her to No. 6 all time in career assists.
Culbert was the youngest player on the all-region team and just the second CSU sophomore to make it. She averaged 2.52 kills per set, hitting .304 during an all-conference season.
As nice as the recognition was for them, the two returners are also looking forward.
“I think we’re already looking forward to next year and spring ball,” said Foss after a workout. “I think this year was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and we showed everyone that we’re better than that, so I think we all have that drive that next year we want to be good too.”
That’s key to Hilbert. The reason his team surprised is because they adopted an underdog mentality and relied on everybody, not one particular player. He’s OK with them playing that role in the offseason, as it was part of what drove them to become a nationally ranked team.
He also said he’s working on strengthening the non-conference schedule. The Mountain West did the Rams no favor in RPI, nor did the matches working up to the league schedule.
He said this team is ready for it, as he expects the same drive toward improvement in the offseason, no one thinking they are a complete player.
“No one does that on this team. That’s the real boon of this entire group of kids – no one perceives themselves as superstars,” Hilbert said. “Each one of them will have a certain sense of urgency to make themselves a better player. If it didn’t happen, I’d be surprised.”
Just as the players were surprised their season ended one match into the NCAA Tournament. The fact that it has happened two seasons in a row will only fuel the Rams in the offseason, Culbert said.
“Definitely. I think our program is not the program that is one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament, and the fact that it’s happened two years in a row is really unfortunate,” she said. “It’s where we want to make a change. We want to have a great season in conference and in preseason, but the last part of the season is also going to be good in that we’re going to make a run in that like we do everything else.”
Mike Brohard can be reached at 635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and @mbrohard
