FORT COLLINS — Tom Hilbert expected to see a little bit of everything, and the Colorado State coach knew he had to view his young team in a different way.

It was hard at times.

“I know,” he said, playing with his glasses. “I’m still working on it, man.”

Which brought knowing laughs from his players in Friday’s postgame presser, two of whom were among the three true freshmen to start against North Dakota State in the season opener at Moby Arena. By the end of the festivities, seven players made their debuts in CSU uniforms, complete with the tag of the No. 25 team in the country in the preseason polls.

As impressive as the group looked in practice — and seven of the 15 Rams are new to the program — the key was getting them on the floor and seeing what they could do in front of the home crowd when the lights are bright and the crowd (2,275 strong) is loud.

“That was really big, because we have to see what really are we good at. You see it in practice, and you’re like, when we get in a game you know things are going to change completely, whatever,” Hilbert said. “I wanted to see what we really were going to be good at. Now I know we have to do more live serving in practice.”

There were glitches — 15 service errors. There were positives — nine aces and a .387 hitting percentage to go along with 10 blocks as a team.

Best of all, a sweep full of challenges and triumphs, 26-24, 25-13, 25-23 over North Dakota State.

“I would never say we were comfortable, but I think we realized we weren’t playing to our full potential,” freshman setter Katie Oleksak said, finishing her night with a double-double of 36 assists and 12 digs. “We stepped out, and that’s what we said in the huddle. We can play better than this, so we just stepped out and got it done.”

Most of the kids played well. Olivia Nicholson hit an amazing .562, producing nine kills on 16 swings without an error, coming up with nine digs as a six-rotation player. Kirstie Hillyer, a redshirt freshman, struggled in the hitting department, but led the team with four aces, produced back-to-back on two occasions in the second set.

Yet a young team needs leadership, and the veteran Rams came through as expected.

“Axi (Poletto) and Jasmine (Hanna) played with incredible maturity,” Hilbert said. “We really needed that from them. They’re the two people that surround Katie, so that’s really important. The three best hitters were in a little triangle around her, and that’s nice for a setter to have that.”

Hanna never struggled and was fed regularly, leading the team with 12 kills on 27 swings, hitting at a .370 clip. After going virtually unused in the first two sets (four kills on just six attacks), the all-conference middle Poletto came to life with a steady diet of sets, posting seven kills on nine swings in the final set to finish the night with 11 while hitting .733.

The duo also paced the team in blocks with five each.

Poletto even broke out a trio of kills on the slide. That’s a new weapon for her to use, and it was nice for her to see it work early.

“I mean, we never really had to run them, even my freshman year,” the junior said. “I wasn’t in that role, I was usually in the three-hitter. We definitely worked on it a ton this spring and it paid off, because I feel a lot more comfortable doing it than I have before.”

It was important for the kids to see that level of play from those who have been through the battles.

“It was great. They were always calm and collective, and that’s what I need, especially for my first college match,” Nicholson said. “A little nerves and all the crowd, and they were very calm and got done what we needed to get done in crucial situations.”

Nicholson felt it was important for the newcomers to be in tight sets the first match of their careers as the Rams were tied at 24 in the first, tied at 22 in the third.

Hilbert liked it, too. Everyone he played contributed to the final result, and he now has a better idea of what they need to focus on moving forward.

Like his youngsters, he said he was feeling the excitement, feeling a bit “yippee.”

There were times of jubilation on his face, but also some befuddled looks, complete with his hand sweeping his face.

He’s trying, but at least he has an idea now.

“I needed to see what I got to see tonight,” he said. “There were times when we were doing things we’re probably going to do because we have a bunch of freshmen, and I’m still like … That’s going to be my life for a couple of weeks until we exactly know what we’re doing. Everybody I played today did a pretty nice job.”

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard