FORT COLLINS — Down two sets on the road, Colorado State still won. As sky-high as the Rams’ volleyball team was after their comeback at Utah State, they didn’t really need a plane to get back home.
“We used a magic carpet,” CSU coach Tom Hilbert joked.
There’s definitely been some magic in play, with the five-set win giving the Rams — who slipped to No. 10 in the polls — a program-record 21 wins to open the season. With the idea the program was in a rebuilding mode to start the season now a complete myth, the Rams are just focused on moving forward.
Where that road takes them next is north across the border against the one team that would love nothing more than to end the Rams’ run (12-0 in Mountain West play), Wyoming.
Truth be told, what the Cowgirls (14-12, 4-8 MW) do well could give Colorado State fits Tuesday night.
Wyoming ranks first in digs at 15.47 per set, with Becky Stewart leading the conference at 5.36 herself. The Cowgirls are also second in blocking (behind CSU), with Erin Kirby leading the league at 1.76 per set.
“They block the ball well. If there is something they’re outstanding at, that’s what it is,” Hilbert said. “You go into foreign territory, and you can’t allow good blocking to impact you and make you tentative. It will be a competitive match. They’re come off two losses, they’re at home and it’s the friggen Border War. They’re going to be fired up and playing with reckless abandon. They’re playing for pride now, and that’s dangerous.”
CSU outside hitter Dri Culbert, the MW player of the week, said the Rams are aware of what Wyoming can do, and definitely what it will want to do. It can get frustrating at times for a hitter to put a good swing on the ball, only to see it come back over the net.
The sophomore said the key offensively for the Rams will to remain true to their talents and what has made them successful to this point.
“I think you just have to go in with the mindset you’re either going to get blocked or get dug,” she said. “You just have to keep going and keep going to things you know are going to work. Don’t try anything crazy, just do what you’re comfortable with and eventually it will work.”
Culbert’s award was the fourth time a CSU player has won it this year, and she’s the only one in the conference to have won it twice. It comes off the heels of two straight road wins, and against Utah State, she posted a double-double of 12 kills (without an error on 23 swings) and had 17 digs, tying a career best. Her six blocks were a personal record.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it at all,” she said. “It’s great to know people recognize that stuff. When (sports information director) Nic (Hallisey) told me, I was kind of like blown away. It’s the second time it’s happened.”
So far, just about everything the Rams have done this year has worked. For Wyoming coach Chad Callihan, that starts with CSU’s roster being loaded with not only talented volleyball players, but smart, too.
For them to win, he said his middles have to remain part of the plan so it doesn’t all rely on his inexperienced outside hitters.
“I think the big thing for us is staying in system so the middles are available,” he said. “If CSU does a nice job of knocking us out of system, then they take away our strength and it just puts a lot more pressure on those pins to have to be able to produce.”
However the match transpires, Hilbert has learned one thing about his team, and that’s nothing really rattles them. He felt they had played well the first two sets at Utah State, and when he spoke to them at the break, there was no anger. There was no reason.
Or magic, either. Just grit from a team that continues to amaze him.
“You look at the old adage that luck is preparation and opportunity, and I can tell you this, I cannot imagine a situation where our team just says, ‘well, we can’t win,'” he said. “I cannot imagine that that will happen.”
Mike Brohard can be reached at 635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and @mbrohard
