FORT COLLINS — The Colorado State volleyball program is extremely proud of its steak of 20 straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
However, the No. 9 Rams are also a bit irritated by it in a small sample, namely the past two trips.
“I think that’s a good assumption,” junior opposite hitter Adrianna Culbert said. “In the past, all the hard work and you get there and you know you’re going to be there, then it’s over in one game. We’re ready to be done with that little stage.”
The Rams will host an all-Colorado sub-regional at Moby Arena, beginning Friday at 4:30 p.m. when Colorado (19-13) faces Northern Colorado (22-10). CSU (29-2) then faces Denver (27-6), tentatively at 6:30 p.m. The two winners will meet in Saturday’s title game (4:30 p.m.) and the right to advance to the Minneapolis regional the following weekend.
Colorado State has not advanced to the second round since 2011, losing in the first round to No. 22 Purdue in 2012 in three sets and dropping a five-setter to Cal State Northridge last year. Of the two losses, that’s the one that bothers Hilbert most, because they were favored and they had chances to win.
It bothered senior middle Kelsey Snider to the point that at the airport, she was asking teammates when they were going to start workouts in prep for this season.
“It’s been four years since we’ve only made it to the second round,” Snider said. “We haven’t done very well in the tournament since I’ve been here, so yeah, it does bother you. You hear the crowd and they’re like, ‘you do so good in the conference, then tournament, first round …’ You’re like, ‘thank you.'”
It was 2011 when the Rams last made the second round (losing to No. 2 Stanford), but in 2009 — the last time the program hosted an NCAA Tournament sub-regional — the team won its first two matches (including an upset of No. 6 Washington), before losing in the third round.
The Rams are home again, and Snider and the players feel that will definitely be a positive for them, especially with a pro-Ram crowd expected to surge past 5,000.
“I do think it gives us an edge,” Snider said. “Obviously we’re going to have great fan support. We practice in here every day. We know the lights, we know things. We get to sleep in our own bed. It’s a huge comfort I feel is what gives us that edge.”
Hilbert knows that edge isn’t enough to carry his team through the weekend. They’ll have to play well, and Friday, the Rams will have to do so against a Denver squad that isn’t intimidated by Moby Arena, a team that has won six straight matches.
“I think it will be difficult. Denver is good, I think they’re playing well, and they know us,” Hilbert said. “That’s the other thing. They come here every other year, they know the crowds are big. To them, it’s not an uncomfortable environment.
“But yeah, we want to win every match. Four of the five times we’ve hosted, we’ve advanced to the Sweet 16. That’s the goal here.”
Colorado State is also on a roll, with a six-match winning streak of its own, winners of 22 of the past 23. There was also a recent spark to the lineup with the insertion of freshman middle Alexandra Poletto, giving the Rams more of an offensive punch from the spot, as well as providing a boost in blocking.
She’s started the past four matches, averaging 2.76 kills per set on .506 hitting, while also contributing 1.35 blocks per set, including a career-best eight in the win against Wyoming to end the regular season.
More than that, Hilbert has just liked his team’s approach down the stretch, and that’s what gives him the most confidence as the tourney approaches.
“You want to just play well. That’s what it is,” he said. “You can’t control what the other teams do. If they come out and play out of their mind, that’s a different deal. You want your team to play well in the NCAA Tournament.
“Physically, I think we look pretty good, pretty fresh. They’re experienced. That’s what it is.”
Colorado State also wants to make the tournament experience what it once was. They hear whispers, so they want to make sure people have the proper perception.
“The girls who have been on the team a long time, we’re all really tired of that one-and-done thing,” Culbert said. “It gives us another edge. Everybody expects Colorado State to make it to the tournament, but nobody expects us to do anything. That gives us another edge that we’re going to go out and prove people wrong, that we’re not just a one-and-out team because we come from the Mountain West.”
Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard