FORT COLLINS — Tom Hilbert liked what he saw, and for good reason.
He’s also being cautious, again, for good reason.
His No. 18 Colorado State volleyball team started the season with three sweeps, the final one coming Sunday afternoon at Moby Arena against Marquette (25-15, 25-20, 25-16) to win the Rams Volleyball Classic title.
The areas where Hilbert knew his team was good showed up in the all-tournament team, with middle blocker Kelsey Snider coming away with the MVP award, while setter Deedra Foss and libero Jaime Colaizzi joined her on the squad.
With Foss running the offense, there was balance. She distributed the ball evenly among her hitters, finishing with 30 assists as her top five hitters weren’t seperated by more than three swings a piece. Marlee Reynolds led the team with nine kills, while Snider and Dri Culbert had eight each.
“It really helps, especially as a pin player because the blockers don’t set up really on one person, which is awesome,” said Culbert, who had 12 digs and two aces to round out her day. “It allows us to have a lot of one one one situations or one on zeros. Those are even better.”
Culbert had one, late in a tight second set, because Hilbert said Foss was so deceptive with the ball, they doubled Acacia Andrews in the middle — even went up with her on the block — leaving Culbert and unabaded attack from the right.
“Every point counts the same, but when they’re that dynamic and dramatic, it makes a difference, especially at the end of a set,” Hilbert said.
Marquette’s offense didn’t have such a luxury. Outside hitter Autumn Bailey, the preseason choice for player of the year in the Big East, was frustrated from the start by CSU’s defense. She had plenty of chances — 33 swings — but had more errors (eight) than kills (seven).
“I think her first hit we came out and blocked and then the next couple we dug up, so I think that made a huge difference throughout the match,” said Colaizzi, who led the Rams with 13 digs. “She still played great, she got her kills, but we got in her head, and I think that made a big difference.”
Hilbert also noted his team handled Bailey’s serve well, another area of disruption for the Golden Eagles.
“The overall package you saw out there today was good,” Hilbert said. “They were doing all the little things well, and we were passing well, serving well and digging balls. That makes the other team work. You don’t know how good a team is until they have to earn 20, 21 points. That’s what had to happen with these guys.”
What the Rams did was beat three teams on their home court to open the year, with Marquette and UC-Santa Barbera teams who were receiving votes in the preseason AVCA poll. That part was good.
However the Rams also entered the weekend looking to solidify the final outside hitter spot and one of the middle positions, and so far no one has taken a firm hold on those jobs.
Both Jasmine Hanna (seven kills) an Sanja Cizmic saw action over the weekend at outside, and while Andrews drew the brunt of the rotations in the middle opposite Snider, Alexandra Poletto was worked into the mix.
Hilbert likes them all, he just wants them to be better in the coming weeks. Even in an area the Rams were strong all weekend — blocking (nine on Sunday) — he sees technical areas where the team can improve.
“I saw things we need to get better at, and we will work on those things,” Hilbert said, his team facing three matches this week. “I would like to have consistency in the other outside hitting position. I believe in Acacia and I think she’s a great blocker and she’s doing some good things, but I’ve seen her be better offensively than she is right now, and we need to find that.”
Of Note — The rest of the all-tourney team consisted of Marquette’s Courtney Kintzel and Lindsey Gosh and VCU’s Cecilia Aragao. … Foss had a good all-around weekend. In addition to her 89 assists, she had 12 kills, and is second on the team with 11 blocks … Reynolds had 29 kills, Snider 27. Snider leads the team with 14 blocks. Colaizzi had 36 digs, while Culbert has 24.
Contact Sports Editor Mike Brohard at 970-635-3633 or mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and at twitter.com/mbrohard
