Dec. 5, 2000

By Renee Carlson
The Coloradoan

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - It's getting to be crunch time - numbers crunching time.

The Colorado State University volleyball team is preparing for its Sweet 16 match in the NCAA Tournament. The Rams play Penn State at 6 p.m. MST Thursday at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

With 16 teams left from the 64-team field, the numbers are pretty astounding. Four of the nation's top 10 ranked teams will play in CSU's Pacific Region.

First, you have the Rams, ranked No. 6 in Monday's USA TODAY/American Volleyball Coaches Association and seeded second in the region. Then there's Penn State, the No. 8-ranked team and No. 3 seed. Southern California gets to host the regional semifinals and final this week. The Trojans are ranked No. 2 in the country and are the top seed in the Pacific Region. Southern Cal plays 10th-ranked and No. 4 seed Florida at 8 p.m. Thursday.

It's enough to make your head spin.

But CSU coach Tom Hilbert doesn't think his players will be worried about numbers, seedings or rankings. They've seen most everything this season in which they have played 13 matches against Top 25 teams. CSU (32-4) is 9-4 against those teams. The Rams' biggest win came over then-No. 1 UCLA.

"They're not afraid to walk on the court and play anyone in the country," Hilbert said. "I can guarantee you we will not be intimidated.

"I think we were a little last year, a little shell-shocked on the court against Long Beach State. That won't happen this week."

Last season, the Rams got deeper into the NCAA Tournament than ever before. They played defending champion Long Beach State but lost in four games. This season, they've matched that Sweet 16 showing and will meet the current defending champion in Penn State (29-5).

The Nittany Lions are big, which reminds Hilbert of Arizona and UCLA. CSU beat both teams this fall in five games. Arizona was ranked No. 4 at the time.

Hilbert expected to have a tough schedule this season, but it got considerably tougher with a late addition. Just after he had added the Bankers Classic, he got a call last spring asking if the Rams wanted to play in the State Farm Classic, the nation's most prestigious nonconference tournament.

He accepted, and CSU, which began the season ranked a program-best No. 13, went on to upset then-No. 9 Florida on its home turf before edging UCLA.

"That served its purpose and got us some national recognition," Hilbert said. "And the Bankers Classic (with No. 4 Arizona and No. 10 Pacific the week before the NCAA Tournament began) did a really nice job of toughening us up after the conference tournament."

Another thing the Rams have in their favor is that they've played nine of the 13 matches against ranked opponents on the road. They feel confident they can win in a neutral or hostile arena.

"This is the most confident I've seen them," Hilbert said. "They have me believing that they're going to win this regional."