Following a disappointing 2016 campaign that culminated with a loss in the first round to Kentucky, the Rams are looking to make a splash in 2017. The Rams return their entire offense and will be gunning to reclaim the Mountain West crown after conceding it to Boise State in 2016. Look for the Rams to lean heavily on seniors Jasmine Hanna, Sanja Cizmic, and Alexandra Poletto to lead an otherwise-young team.
CSU opens with three winnable matches against Duke, UCF and Northern Colorado, but with a pre-conference schedule including teams from 9 different conferences and 3 NCAA tournament teams, the Rams will need to get their feet under them quickly to secure statement wins against teams like Colorado, Florida State and Michigan.
Next, the Rams travel to Tallahassee to take part in the Home2suites Tallahassee Seminole Volleyball Invitational to play TCU, UNC Asheville and host, Florida State University. Both TCU and Florida State made it deeper than CSU in the 2016 NCAA tournament so these matches should be a good early indication of the Rams’ potential.
Returning home, the Rams host two tournaments in their own Moby Arena. In the first, CSU plays against Ball State, Michigan and Idaho State from September 8-10. Michigan finished 6th in the always competitive Big 10 last year. A win against them would be a good signature win for the Rams to add to their resume and would strengthen their argument to be considered come tournament time.
To conclude the pre-conference slate, Colorado State faces off against Albany, Xavier and in state rivals, Colorado in the second CSU Tournament. Similarly to Michigan, the showdown with Colorado is a good opportunity for CSU to improve their resume should they get a win against this Pac 12 opponent.
The Mountain West Conference portion of the schedule should be a battle since CSU plays the top half of the conference twice in their bid to reclaim the Mountain West title. The conference has an unbalanced schedule, and so Rams will only face San Diego State and Fresno State once each during the conference season. These two teams concluded 2016 at 6th and 8th respectively.
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME (PT) |
| Aug. 25 | Duke | Fort Collins, Colo. | 5 p.m. |
| Aug. 26 | UCF | Fort Collins, Colo. | 7 p.m. |
| Aug. 29 | Northern Colorado | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Sept. 1 | TCU | Tallahassee, Fla. | 6 a.m. |
| Sept. 2 | UNC Asheville | Tallahassee, Fla. | 10 a.m. |
| Sept. 2 | Florida State | Tallahassee, Fla. | 1:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 8 | Ball State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 11 a.m. |
| Sept. 8 | Michigan | Fort Collins, Colo. | 5 p.m. |
| Sept. 10 | Idaho State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 1 a.m. |
| Sept. 15 | Albany | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Sept. 16 | Xavier | Fort Collins, Colo. | 12 p.m. |
| Sept. 16 | Colorado | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Sept. 21 | New Mexico | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Sept. 23 | UNLV | Fort Collins, Colo. | 12 p.m. |
| Sept. 26 | Wyoming | Laramie, Wyo. | 5:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 30 | Air Force | USAF Academy, Colo. | 12 p.m. |
| Oct. 5 | Boise State | Boise, Idaho | 6:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 7 | Utah State | Logan, Utah | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 12 | San Jose State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Oct. 14 | Nevada | Fort Collins, Colo. | TBD |
| Oct. 19 | UNLV | Las Vegas, Nev. | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 21 | New Mexico | Albuquerque, N.M. | 1 p.m. |
| Oct. 24 | Wyoming | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Oct. 26 | Air Force | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Nov. 2 | Utah State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Nov. 4 | Boise State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 12 p.m. |
| Nov. 9 | Nevada | Reno, Nev. | 7:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 11 | San Jose State | San Jose, Calif. | TBD |
| Nov. 15 | Fresno State | Fort Collins, Colo. | 6 p.m. |
| Nov. 18 | San Diego State | San Diego, Calif. | 2 p.m. |
| Nov. 25 | UC Davis | Fort Collins, Colo. | 12 p.m. |
| Dec. 1-2 | NCAA First and Second Rounds | Campus Sites | TBD |
| Dec. 8-9 | NCAA Regionals | Top-4 remaining seeds | TBD |
| Dec. 14 | NCAA Semifinals | Kansas City, Mo. | TBD |
| Dec. 16 | NCAA Finals | Kansas City, Mo. | TBD |
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