FORT COLLINS — At the end of Tuesday’s practice, Tom Hilbert and assistant coach Luke Murray pulled out some clear wrap and stretched a bit of it across the top of the net with an assist from Kelsey Snider.
It was a new idea for Hilbert, but it was one the Colorado State volleyball coach felt would help get his point across to Sanja Cizmic.
Being from Croatia, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Nothing like throwing a foreign idea at a freshman from far away. For all the strange things she’s encountered in her new country, she’s knows what’s topped them all.
“Probably that,” Cizmic said with a laugh. “And imagining my nails as knives.”
The goal was to teach her to drive her hands across the net while blocking, and the visual of seeing her hands pierce the plastic helped somewhat. Hilbert spent the first weekend of the season taking notes on all of his players, but especially three freshmen who joined the team. He also had to play close attention to Cizmic and Jasmine Hanna, both of whom are vying for the role of outside hitter to compliment Marlee Reynolds.
Both had their moments, and Hilbert had his notes. Cizmic needs to block better, Hanna needs to be more productive when the offense is out of system. What he feels he doesn’t have is a looming issue as the No. 13 Rams head into the second week of the season, starting Wednesday night at Northern Colorado.
In his mind, there is a role to be filled by both to help the team moving forward.
“They’re both talented kids. We’ve got a third talented freshman,” Hilbert said, referring to middle blocker Alexandra Poletto. “All three of those freshmen are good, and I want to see all of them play significant roles this year.
“It’s also going to be situational. There are teams we’re going to want Sanja to play against, there’s teams we’re going to want Jasmine to play against. We need to get them ready by the time we start the Mountain West.”
When camp started, Hilbert was of the mind Hanna was still going to need some work. With an impressive fall camp, that’s no longer the case. For him or her.
“I was kind of surprised I could kind of compete with them,” said Hanna, who had 18 kills in eight sets played, but also 10 hitting errors. “I was like, ‘OK, I can actually get kills, I can help in this team.’ That was cool to know.”
It also provided her with an emphasis on what she has to work on, saying the truth is she needs to improve all-around. Cizmic, who had three kills in four sets, is thinking along the same lines.
“I have to do everything well and do my best, but the block is what I have to focus on more now,” Cizmic said. “Passing was something I had to focus on during camp, so there’s always an important thing I have to focus on, but you never forget about other things.”
The Rams jumped five spots in this week’s AVCA poll with a busy week in front of them. After Wednesday’s match, they return to Fort Collins for a pair of home dates over the weekend with Florida A&M on Friday and No. 4 Wisconsin on Saturday (both at 7 p.m.).
Both of them found the ability to adjust to the speed of the game, one that will likely increase when the Badgers hit the floor. However, each of them has a comfort level with the system, and Cizmic credits her teammates for making her feel right at home.
“They’re always there for you, they’re always going to help you when there’s stuff you don’t know,” she said. “They made my experience much better. It doesn’t matter if it was the first set I played here or the last set of my senior year, I think it’s always going to be good because of my team.”
Even when trying to block clear wrap.
Contact Sports Editor Mike Brohard at 970-635-3633 or mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and at twitter.com/mbrohard
