FORT COLLINS — The achievement may be common, but it is never overlooked.
Not by coach Tom Hilbert, or by his players. With a win over San Jose State on Wednesday (7 p.m.) at Moby Arena, Colorado State’s ninth-ranked volleyball team can clinch a share of the Mountain West title, and by virtue of tiebreakers with UNLV, will take the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. By the end of Saturday’s road match with Nevada, the conference title can belong all to the Rams.
“It is special. All those things that happen, when they happen, they are cool to recognize and say it,” Hilbert said. “As you go through it, you prepare and you do everything the same way, but it’s an amazing thing. Sometimes I think we take it for granted.”
The title will be the sixth straight for the team, the longest streak in conference history, with CSU having won it five straight times before, from 2000-04. This will be the second senior class in a row for the Rams to know nothing but championships.
And no, it’s not getting old.
“It’s definitely still special. Each year when we celebrate the Mountain West, it’s like a huge deal,” senior setter Deedra Foss said. “We’re all super-excited. It’s something at the beginning of the year it’s a goal, but you don’t know for sure if you’re going to accomplish it at the end. When you do, it’s awesome. It’s an amazing feeling.”
As things stand now, only the Rams and Hawaii have current streaks of five consecutive conference championships, and the Wahine are three games out in the Big West with four games to play.
As Hilbert notes, while the Rams make it look easy, that’s never the case. Players graduate and move on and new ones replace them, and injuries are always an issue.
Just not for the Rams.
“That’s pretty cool, and it’s a great honor,” Hilbert said. “This is a great program, and I hope they don’t take it for granted. It’s not something you should expect to win all the time. You’ve got to work at being excellent.”
From his chair at practice, the Rams still are working as if nothing is guaranteed. The only detour from that is the way the players talk.
For the past three weeks, the Rams have all spoken about being ready for the NCAA Tournament, though it was far from a given. It’s never been a stance of arrogance, either, just a feeling.
“It is just a confidence. We all know the potential that we have and how good we can play,” senior outside hitter Marlee Reynolds said. “We know we can play at the top and play at the tournament. It’s a goal, a common goal for everyone. When it is a common goal, everybody works their hardest to reach it.”
All the Rams need now is one more win. Truth is, they’d like three, so as not to share the title, but also to keep in the chase to host a NCAA Tournament sub-regional the first weekend of December.
Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard
