After four games on the road — going 2-2, Colorado State volleyball used that Moby magic and snagged its fourth win of the season.
Despite a messy third set, the Rams came together and pulled through with a 4-1 win (25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 25-10) against East Texas A&M Thursday.
“We’re glad to be home; it’s nice to be back in Moby Arena,” head coach Emily Kohan said. “We went into this match knowing we were going to play three different lineups in the first three sets. … You’re always one injury away from certain kids having to get in there and play, and you want to keep them hot and keep them growing and getting better.”
A common theme with CSU is coming into a match with high intensity and energy — the Rams have won the first set of every game except one — but it begins to waver as the rest of the match continues. Yet, forces are growing on CSU’s side, especially when it comes to the offense.
As soon as the Rams could locate that sweet spot window in the block, powerful kills went straight to the ground. As with almost every game, Maria Brun was a constant for CSU among waves of unsteadiness — one of the many reasons she was the leader in kills during the match, scoring 14.
“After this last week, I was thinking what I can do (to) make me a better leader (for) this team,” Brun said. “You have to go there and give to the team, (and I) have experience in these situations, so (I) just need to go there and play.”
Brun was not only lethal as a hitter, but when she went back to serve, she delivered. The four aces Brun recorded do not even begin to tell the story of the serves and serving runs she produced, as her serves consistently tore over the net and dropped down immediately, creating havoc for ET’s defense.
Yet it wasn’t just Brun, but the team as a whole, that cleaned up their serving game and saw good improvement from their last home match against Washington where they had 15 service errors. Whereas in the game against the Lions, they had almost half of the amount with eight.
“Yesterday I talked to my coach, Emily, and we were talking (about) the stats like, ‘One thing you have to improve… it’s your serve; your serve, it’s really good, it’s so aggressive,’” Brun said. “Today … I practiced serving harder (like) last year, and it worked.”
Although the Rams lost their balance in the third set, the 13 players who saw court time went hard and aggressive. In the same outside hitter position as Brun is Halle Jameson, who’s begun to see valuable playing time over the past few games despite only being a first-year, becoming a starter for the team and an all-around player.
Jameson tied with Kekua Richards for second-most kills of the night with 11, but also excelled in the back row with eight digs and two assists.
“I think with being a freshman, I kind of want to be more aggressive with the ball,” Jameson said. “I think (being on the road) was just a good turning point for me to be like, ‘Okay, I can swing as hard as I want, (and) keep staying aggressive and not getting my head.’”
But when aggressiveness is mentioned, especially about the match against ET, one name comes to mind: Richards.
Richards was a wall, she was a machine, she was everything the team needed and a little bit more. She had a hitting percentage of 31.8%, but Ram fans were able to see Richards finally get into her rhythm as she had crushing hits that soared straight down onto the Lions’ side.
It’s no surprise that the 6-foot-7 middle blocker can deliver kill upon kill, but this is the first home game of the season where it seemed like whenever she could get her hands on the ball it was a point for CSU, giving the Rams the edge they needed. Although, Kohan still wants to see more intensity overall before hitting the court against Notre Dame.
“We’ve learned some hard lessons in going five sets (like) being up against Washington and letting them come back,” Kohan said. “You’re playing good teams, you can’t let up and (have) got to play until the scoreboard is done. And so, having the starting intensity (is important), but also finishing it and not really letting off the gas.”
The Rams have a one-day turnaround before going against the Fighting Irish, and one thing is for certain: communication needs to be a priority.
The defense in the back row was a weakness for CSU at times — especially in the third set — and a large part of what makes the Rams so competitive is their offense. But to be that championship-level team that Kohan talks about having means that all parts have to be efficient; no matter which roster or what set they are in.
“I think we just need to control the controllables,” Jameson said. “And I think that’s something we’re getting a lot better at is having energy. … And then I want to just keep swinging at the ball and stay aggressive, as aggressive as I can (be).”
Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on social media @sophgwebb.
