CSU Tournament provides challenge for volleyball team
With about a week to go before the season started, USU head volleyball coach Burt Fuller said the Aggies will find out exactly where they stand come Friday at the University Park Holiday Inn Classic in Fort Collins, Colo.
Friday has come and Utah State will open its season on at 7 p.m. against Murray State University at the Colorado State University-hosted tournament.
Saturday, the Aggies will take the court against the University of Arkansas at 10 a.m. and CSU at 7 p.m.
“I don’t know a lot about Murray State,” Fuller said. “For your first match, it’s always hard to get tape on people. We’re kind of going in blind.”
While Fuller isn’t too familiar with the Racers, he is familiar with the Razorbacks and Rams from his assistant coaching days at the University of California, L.A.
“Arkansas usually has a pretty good program,” Fuller said. “They have a lot of foreign experience, which tends to lend itself to being pretty solid, and Colorado State is always tough.”
Like the Aggies, the Racers return three starters from last season’s club that went 10-16 and finished fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Arkansas, the preseason favorite to win the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference, returns three starters from last year’s 16-14 squad, including first-team all-league picks Libby Windell and Eftila Tanellari.
The Razorbacks and the Aggies face several teams ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll throughout the season.
Utah State will have its first chance to pull off an upset when it faces the No. 14 ranked CSU squad on Saturday.
CSU was among the top teams in the country last season, advancing to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and finishing with a gaudy record of 32-5.
As victors of the Mountain West Conference regular season title – losing to Brigham Young University in the conference tournament title game – the Rams are once again one of the preseason favorites for the league title.
In order to beat the Rams, the Aggies have to contain All-Americans Courtney Cox (second-team selection) and MWC player of the year Angela Knopf (first-team selection).
Knopf, a senior middle blocker, is one of the most explosive hitters in the country. As a junior, Knopf hit a whopping .424, good enough for sixth best in the nation. Cox lead the Rams with 524 kills.
Whether they are playing Murray State or Colorado State, Fuller said USU will focus on executing its game plan.
“We’re not taking anybody lightly,” he said. ” We’re going to go out and we’re going to battle.”
The Aggies will travel to Hawaii next week.