SPORTS: CSU volleyball looks to impress once again in 2022

FOOTBALL

Rams look toward season with renewed hope

By Kaden Porter

@kqporter5

With less than two weeks remaining before Colorado State University football kicks off the season on the road against the University of Michigan, the team is focused on improving not only their play on the field but also their relationships with one another.

“I think the team dynamic has changed,” fifth-year linebacker and defensive leader Dequan Jackson said. “I think we’re playing together more, and I think guys are even cooperating more off the field and leaning on each other. The coaches have done a great job of coming in and bringing energy.”

In order to unify as a team, relationship building goes beyond the field, and multiple players emphasized how important the surrounding community is to the football team.

“I just want to thank everybody behind the scenes,” tight end Tanner Arkin said. “Those people — the support staff — they do a lot for us.”

Jackson also acknowledged the importance of the team’s support staff and added how important the whole CSU community is to the team.

“Hopefully we can do this together this year; I don’t want it to be a football team and a fan base,” he said. “I want it to be all one Ram country.”

Arkin and Jackson were both named to the Mountain West

Conference preseason top five lists at their respective positions — Arkin was named the top tight end in the conference while Jackson came in fourth on the linebackers list. Despite this, neither athlete is focused on their current ranking. “There’s no point in me worrying about what I’m ranked at right now when I expect to have a great season and come out on top,” Jackson said.

As the offseason and fall camp progressed, members of head coach Jay Norvell’s inaugural recruiting class also showed they’re confident and ready to contribute.

“When someone lines up against me, I’m always going to think that I’m better than them, even if it might not be the case,” freshman wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons said. “I’m always going to give 110% and give it my all out there.”

Fellow freshman wide receiver Mekhi Fox echoed RossSimmons’ sentiment.

“As a freshman, I just want to get in where I fit in — get the ball here and there and make plays, win games,” Fox said. “They just have to give me the opportunity for me to show my ability.”

Wide receivers coach Chad Savage said freshmen may indeed get that opportunity this season despite being part of a roster full of wide receivers packed with talent.

“Now that they’ve had some success in practice and in scrimmage situations, their mindsets are shifting in the right direction,” Savage said. “They know we’re going to rely on them this year to play.” Looking toward the Sept. 3 Michigan matchup against

The Associated Press’ eighthranked team, CSU’s players aren’t letting their upcoming opponent intimidate them.

“It’s always an opportunity to play a big team like that to get the exposure, but I’m not too worried about the name,” Jackson said. “I just know that I don’t think there’s any fear in our guys, and we’ll go out there and give it our all.”

“It’s our first game all together, so there’s going to be a lot of things that go right, and there’s going to be some things that we have to work on, but I think we all realize that,” associate head coach and quarterbacks coach Matt Mumme said. “If we feed off each other — offense feeds off defense and special teams and vice versa — and we limit mistakes, we’ve got a chance to go in there and do some things.”

Beyond Michigan, the team is excited for the matchups they’ll see this season, especially hosting the annual Border War rivalry game against the University of Wyoming.

“I’m from Fort Collins, so I’ve understood the rivalry for a long time,” Arkin said. “It’s just a new level of pride when you’re playing for CSU, and you come to learn that rivalry and the dislike for them.”

Despite the excitement for the season, the team is taking it one game at a time.

“I think all of us would love to look forward and say that we’d like to be in a bowl game, but really our focus right now is just to get through Michigan,” Mumme said.

Reach Kaden Porter at sports@ collegian.com.

Colorado State University linebacker Dequan Jackson (5) in Canvas Stadium Aug. 18. Jackson, a fifthyear senior, will be the only returning captain from the 2021 season. Colorado State University wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons (85) inside Canvas Stadium Aug. 18. Ross-Simmons is a freshman from Rochester, New York, who will get his first chance to represent the Rams against the University of Michigan Sept. 3.

Colorado State University tight end Tanner Arkin (89) inside Canvas Stadium Aug. 18. Arkin, who joined the team during their truncated season in 2020, played his first minutes at the end of the 2021 season. PHOTOS BY GARRETT MOGEL THE COLLEGIAN

SEASON PREVIEW

CSU volleyball looks to impress once again in 2022

By Cameron Evig

@camevig

The Colorado State University Rams volleyball team opens their 2022 season at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Rams have history with the Tar Heels, as they traveled to Chapel Hill and lost in a reverse sweep last season.

Head coach Tom Hilbert and company are looking to start the year off with a win and use the momentum to make it into the postseason. The odds are in the Rams’ favor, as they topped the Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

The head coaches in the Mountain West voted in the yearly rankings poll, which had the Rams in first place. They were followed by Utah State University, and Boise State University and San Jose State University tied for third.

Along with that honor, the Rams had two players make the preseason all-conference team: outside hitter Kennedy Stanford and setter Ciera Pritchard. CSU is looking good for back-to-back Mountain West regular season titles, which would give them their fifth in six years.

They begin the season with a six-game nonconference home stand that starts against North Carolina and ends Sept. 3 against Alabama State University. They follow that with a three-game tournament in Texas and close out nonconference play with a two-game Rocky Mountain Showdown against the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes at Moby Arena Sept. 15 and in Boulder the next day.

In nonconference play, the Rams do have some tough competition to get through, with Baylor University and Florida Gulf Coast University going 22-6 and 27-6 last season, respectively. The University of Northern Colorado also cannot be overlooked, as they were picked in the coaches’ poll to win the Big Sky Conference for the second year in a row.

In conference play, the Rams could have an opportunity to go undefeated. If the Rams can get past a talented Utah State team, the odds are heavily in their favor against other teams in the conference. After a disappointing Mountain West championship tournament last season, in which they lost in the semifinals to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Rams will look to dominate in conference play and potentially make it back to the NCAA tournament.

Reach Cameron Evig at sports@ collegian.com.