Nov. 27, 2000

By Renee Carlson
The Coloradoan

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State University volleyball team capped a stellar regular season with its best postseason acknowledgement in school history.

The Rams will begin postseason play this week after earning a berth Sunday in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field for the sixth straight year. CSU was tabbed as the No. 2 seed in the Pacific region, its highest seed ever. The bracket has four regions, which means the committee considered CSU, ranked No. 6 in the nation, as one of the top eight teams overall.

The result is that CSU's subregional is - on paper, at least - very winnable.

"We've got a road that is going to allow us a good road to the Final Four as long as we beat the teams we have this year and beat the other teams of similar caliber," CSU coach Tom Hilbert said. "It's a really good chance for us to fulfill our dreams and goals."

The Rams (30-4) take on No. 15 seed Radford (28-6) at 8 p.m. Friday at Moby Arena, following the 6 p.m. match between No. 7 Georgia Tech (25-7) and No. 10 University of Colorado (16-11). The winners play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Moby, and the losers are done for the year.

Tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. today. All-session passes for adults are $12, and $6 for youths ages 3-18. Single-session tickets - which can only be bought immediately before a match - cost $8 for adults and $5 for youths. All tickets are general admission.

If CSU wins its matches this week, it likely will travel to Southern Cal. But if the Trojans lose this week, the Rams would get to host next week's matches. CSU was disappointed Sunday that it didn't get a No. 1 seed and the first chance to host through the Elite Eight round, but the Rams knew it was a longshot after they lost Saturday night to No. 10 Pacific.

"At least getting to play the first and second round at home will be good for us," CSU setter Allie Peckham said. "Getting to play a couple more games in Moby will be great."

Last year was the best showing in the NCAA Tournament for the Rams. They made it to the Sweet 16 before bowing out to Long Beach State. This year, they are aiming for the Final Four and perhaps a national title.

"Whatever people they put in our way, we just want to roll over them," senior Summer Jennings said. "I want to go all the way to the end."

To get there, the Rams must get past this week. Radford earned the automatic bid out of the Big South Conference and will make its second NCAA appearance in school history (the other came in 1993). First-year coach Jerry Pruitt is, ironically, a good friend of CSU coach Tom Hilbert and his wife Leslie, and had even sent them an e-mail saying he hoped his team would get paired with the Rams.

The other first-round match at Moby features two teams the Rams already have played this year. CSU beat the University of Colorado in four games in Boulder and later swept Georgia Tech in three games for the Coors Classic title at Moby Arena.

The tournament officially begins Thursday around the country, but it's a good thing the Rams don't play until Friday. The extra day will help because the team's flight Sunday morning out of Stockton, Calif., was canceled, and half the team had not arrived in Fort Collins by the time the 6 p.m. selection show began.

When play kicks off, though, the Rams say they will be ready.

"It's a new season, it's do-or-die time," Peckham said. "If we don't perform, we're done. Just watching it tonight, I got goosebumps."