FORT COLLINS — For her first camp, Jaime Colaizzi was nervous.
She had reason. A true freshman out of Windsor, she entered the Colorado State volleyball program intent on proving her worth and earning a role, which she did. But it was nerve-wracking, she said.
Now as she enters her junior season, she’s excited for the upcoming camp which begins Monday, and that feeling stems from all that is new for the Rams. Namely, five new players and even a first-year assistant coach.
“I’m more excited for camp than I have been at any point in my career honestly, because of all the new faces and all the changing dynamics,” the libero said. “I think our team this year is very versatile and very deep, so there’s a lot of different things that we can do, which I’m really excited about.”
Coach Tom Hilbert doesn’t think the number of newcomers is out of the norm for a season, but it may be for a team that is coming off five straight Mountain West championships, a squad that is replacing a middle blocker, and outside hitter and looking for depth in the back row. In filling those roles, it may come down to veteran returners switching spots, but Hilbert isn’t about to predict any of those scenarios quite yet.
That, too, has the veteran coach anticipating camp.
“I’m excited, and I think we have good returners. We have a couple of freshmen who can contribute, and we’ve got to figure out what their roles are going to be,” he said. “I’ve always prided myself on being able to figure out what the best combination of kids in certain situations is. That’s going to be my task in the next two weeks.”
The Rams will welcome freshmen Alexandra Poletto, Jasmine Hannah and Sonja Cizmic, as well as junior transfers Grace Gordon and Crystal Young. Most of the players were on campus this summer (with the exception of Poletto, who was busy with Team Canada duties), which gave the newcomers a chance to get familiar to their surroundings.
Not only with what happens off the court, but how they can exist out of the gym. Newcomers were kidnapped and taken to movie nights and team dinners, all in the hope of building relationships.
“Everyone but Axie, who’s from Canada, has been here,” said senior outside hitter Marlee Reynolds. “I think it’s great that they’ve all been able to be here and get used to everyone and get to know each other. You kind of get past the shy stage already, and you’re kind of part of the team.
“When Grace and Sonja first got here, we had a team dinner and movie night. Doing things outside of lifting weights and captain’s practices is very important.”
Hilbert said the idea is all of that familiarity will help when practice begins, joking to check back in December for an accurate assessment. Still, having the majority of the players around helped with conditioning and strength training, as well as any injuries that needed to be tended to along the way.
Anything that gives the team a jump-start to the season is welcomed, and Colaizzi feels the Rams did everything they could to be fully prepared for the grind that awaits.
Now that they all know each other, she thinks they’ll be ready to fight it out with one another to make the team ready for the challenging season that awaits.
“I think it’s going to be really important to do a lot of team play,” Colaizzi said. “Obviously breaking down skills and stuff is going to be huge because we need to work off the rust a little bit, but with so many new players and a few new players who are probably going to see the court, we’re going to need that good team chemistry on the court. I think a lot of team play is going to be necessary in camp.”
Contact Sports Editor Mike Brohard at 970-635-3633 or mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and at twitter.com/mbrohard
