FORT COLLINS — For Jaime Colaizzi, it wasn’t so much that Colorado State lost to UNLV, it was how the Rams lost.
They weren’t themselves.
So for her, step one in the bounce-back process for the 10th ranked team in the country is to become themselves again.
“One loss is not the end of the world, but we definitely need to learn something from the way we performed in that match,” the Rams’ junior said. “I can go down if we go down fighting, but Saturday night wasn’t a fight in my eyes. I’m disappointed in how we performed and how we didn’t bounce back after losing one set, or losing two sets. I just think we need to make sure we learn something from that, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Coach Tom Hilbert was very much in the same line of thinking. He credited UNLV for doing what it does well to create some chaos, but the other side of the equation for him was his team (23-2 overall, 11-1 Mountain West) knew what was coming and didn’t react to it properly.
It was uncharacteristic of what he’s seen from his team, but he also doesn’t believe it will become a lingering issue from what he’s seen in practice and his chats with the squad.
“It’s just basically to control their own game. We know that we are better than what we were playing, and we have to learn how to control that and capture it,” Hilbert said. “We didn’t do it very well.”
The loss in four sets did some damage. The Rams slipped four spots in the AVCA Coaches Poll, but they did rise one spot to 13 in the ever-important RPI listing.
That list will factor heavily into who the committee determines to be the host sites on Nov. 30, and Hilbert said his team monitors it closely. If the Rams have hopes of hosting an NCAA Tournament sub-regional, they’ll have to win out.
Most of the time, Hilbert would like to loosen the screws on his team, because he said they supply all the pressure themselves.
“We had a talk before practice. I told them if you guys win out we have a chance to stay in the top 16, depending on how other people do,” Hilbert said. “Some of it is out of our control, but the fact is we can’t have another blemish. We can still win the conference with another blemish, but we’re going to have a hard time hosting the NCAAs. Winning the conference is the first thing. You’ve got to go do the next thing.”
For Colaizzi, that begins Saturday at last-place Fresno State (6-20, 1-11 MW), which she feels is kind of fitting. It was on the road where the Rams lost, so it just feels right beginning their recovery away from Moby Arena.
As for the pressure, that’s really nothing new for the team, Colaizzi said. For them, it’s a way of life, and it’s served them well in the past.
“It puts a sense of urgency on there. It shouldn’t, but it does,” she said. “We’re used to it, at the same time. You look at the 2012 season and we had to win from the end of October or we’d lose the Mountain West.
“We’re used to having that pressure on us, but at the same time, I think we need to make sure we still take it one step at a time, one match at a time. We need to make sure we prepare ourselves better than we did last weekend.”
Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard
