Nov. 28, 2000

By Renee Carlson
The Coloradoan

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - You would think a team with a 30-4 record would have no confidence problems. Think again.

The Colorado State University volleyball team has lost two of its past three matches, both in five games. The Rams don't have much time to recover, as their one-match-and-out season begins Friday with the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Rams, seeded a program-best second in the Pacific region, host 15th-seeded Radford at 8 p.m. at Moby Arena. The match follows the 6 p.m. match between the No. 10 seed University of Colorado and No. 7 Georgia Tech.

CSU expects to be fine for the weekend, but the Rams had to face their shortcomings in a 1 Qw_-hour team meeting Monday. They aired their misgivings and worries to each other and coach Tom Hilbert.

"Tom tried to reinforce to us that just because we make a mistake doesn't mean we're awful," setter Allie Peckham said. "He wants us to know we're good. We have the skills and ability to do the job and get it done."

The Rams stayed ranked No. 6 in Monday's USA TODAY/American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll despite losing to then-No. 10 Pacific last Saturday. The night before, CSU beat then-No. 4 Arizona in four games, after losing to then-No. 13 Brigham Young a week ago.

The players were disappointed and tired after the loss to Pacific, especially considering that some of them didn't get back to Fort Collins until 10 p.m. Sunday because the team's original morning flight was canceled.

Hilbert, though, says the players have been too hard on themselves. He said the team will concentrate this week on the numerous positive things it has done this season.

"We've set incredible goals this year. So we lose a heartbreaker to Pacific. Does that mean that we're a failure? No," Hilbert said.

"We can't get stressed out right now. We can't start thinking that this way up here is our goal, and if we don't get it, we're no good. We can't think that way."

Hilbert and his staff will try to lighten up practices this week and get the players relaxed. The coaches feel the players have been tightening up and playing tense, especially late in matches, and they want them to get back to playing for fun.

"Having confidence going into this weekend is especially important," Peckham said. "You want to feel like you're on top of your game."