Foss the engine of high-powered attack for No. 6 CSU
Before facing New Mexico last week, Tom Hilbert was asked if the Lobos’ Chantale Riddle is the best player in the Mountain West.
Hilbert started to talk about how Riddle is the most gifted player athletically and presented a lot of problems for the CSU volleyball team.
Then he stopped himself.
“Deedra Foss is the best player in the conference.”
That’s not a shot at Riddle or the talk of a coach campaigning for his player, it’s a statement justified by numbers.
Foss, a redshirt senior setter, runs an offense ranked fourth in the nation and first in the MW with a .297 hitting percentage.
Foss is eighth in the nation and first in the MW at 11.54 assists per set.
She does it with an unpredictable approach, which gives her teammates easy opportunities for kills.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a setter that is as good at that (varying distribution) as Deedra. She really sees the blockers and knows their tendencies,” opposite hitter Adrianna Culbert said. “The one-on-ones are insane. We have so many one-on-one opportunities, which is great especially when we go up against good blocking teams.”
No. 6 ranked Colorado State University doesn’t have one hitter it relies on to get all the kills, rather Foss spreads the attacks around.
The Rams (20-1) don’t have anyone in the top five of the MW in kills per set, but there are three in the top 10.
With weapons at every position, Foss uses deception to make it nearly impossible to know where she’s going to set.
“It’s just a matter of how my hands look. I’ll look like I’m setting back and then I’ll set it out,” Foss said. “It just came naturally. When I first got here, Tom had me do drills to try and trick (defenses), and I guess that’s where I learned it.”
Because of the changes in scoring over the years, Foss never had a chance to break CSU’s record for career assists.
She sits sixth with 4,290 assists going into Thursday’s home match against Boise State at 7 p.m.
Hilbert will talk all day about his setter, praising her for her deception in sets, but also how easy she is to coach.
Fans often see Hilbert scream from the bench, but Foss brushes it off, understanding it’s the only way to get a message across in the few seconds between points.
“She’s unbelievably coachable. She’s very thick-skinned. She understands urgency, she listens to what coaches say,” Hilbert said. “She’ll execute game plans exactly right. Then if (opponents) change in the middle of a game, she’ll change along.”
Hilbert said he knew right away during her redshirt freshman year that she was good, but it wasn’t until former assistant coach Matt Botsford joined the program and began raving about Foss that Hilbert realized how exceptional a player she is.
In her three-plus years as a starter, CSU’s record is 93-17 and the Rams have won three MW titles, with a fourth seemingly on the way this season.
“I love coaching her. I’ve had a lot of good setters here, but this kid is so good to work with,” Hilbert said. “She’s so positive for me to work with. I’m going to miss her a lot.”
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.
CSU offense
Hitting percentage: .297 (fourth in nation, first in MW)
Kills/set: 14.35 (13th in nation, first in MW)
Deedra Foss: 11.54 assists/set (eighth in nation, first in MW)
Next up: 7 p.m. Thursday vs. Boise State at Moby Arena
Promotion: Social media night. Fans will get a chance to win prizes by following cues given throughout the match and executing them on social media. Included will be a photo caption contest with the hashtag #CSUSocial.
Twitter updates: @Kevin_Lytle
Mountain West standings
School
Overall
Conference
No. 6 CSU
20-1
8-0
UNLV
18-5
6-2
Wyoming
16-5
5-3
Boise State
12-8
5-3
Utah State
9-9
5-3
New Mexico
12-9
4-4
San Diego State
8-10
4-4
Air Force
9-13
3-5
Nevada
5-12
2-5
Fresno State
6-16
1-7
San Jose State
3-17
0-7