All Colorado State volleyball needed to secure that spot for the second seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament was one win.
And that’s exactly what it accomplished.
The Rams faced off Grand Canyon Thursday for their second-to-last game of the regular conference season. CSU was fighting for its second seed, meanwhile the Lopes were fighting for a solidified spot within the MW Tournament. And after an aggressive face-off, the Rams pulled out with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-11, 25-22, 25-15) win.
“That’s always great when you take care of your own destiny,” head coach Emily Kohan said. “Do we want to win one more, no matter what, to send the seniors out? Yeah, we do. But getting the bye is a much easier path, and for us resting our bodies too, and being able to go into (the tournament) knowing we’re not going to have to play three matches in a week.”
Going into the match, CSU was ranked 14th in the NCAA in terms of blocks per set, but GCU was close behind, sitting at 16th. But by the end of the four sets, the Rams walked away with 25 blocks and, with a strategic offense and defense, shut out GCU’s blocking in the first three sets.
“It just shows how many options we have and how many terminal hitters we have,” outside attacker Halle Jameson said. “It’s hard to read us. It’s hard to tell who it’s going to go to, just because we have so many people that can put the ball away and just be really effective.”
As expected with their position, the middles — Eve Wilson and Kekua Richards — were the stars of the blocking show, each notching six.
And after spending the majority of the season as an opposite hitter, Wilson recently returned to being a middle and has been practically unstoppable since, asserting herself as the highest hitter on the team in terms of kills with a season total of 311.
“There’s a lot of comfortability with me in the middle … and I really do love the right side, but (it’s) definitely like (being) back home,” Wilson said. “Me and Erin (Debiec) have been able to connect really well. And she’s still able to feed me a lot of balls even though middle is usually a little harder with that, so it’s been great.”
Right off the bat, Wilson was one of the most consistent attackers for the Rams, alongside first-year Jameson. The duo was a powerhouse, and although CSU couldn’t clinch the first set, they were a large spark to get the momentum going for the rest of the match.
The two tied in highest kills for the night with 19 each, Jameson having the highest hitting percentage with a 64%.
“I love playing next Eve,” Jameson said. “We both push each other to have our best night. So I’m just so happy that she could perform really well, and I could perform really well, and I think it just makes it really hard on the other team, just not knowing really who to go up and block.”
And while the team was fighting for a win, Jameson was also fighting to show just how much power a first-year player can have. Recently, GCU’s Bella Nunez was named the MW’s Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season.
But Kohan reinforced that Jameson is not only working for the title, but is more than deserving.
“She’s been a little — I don’t know if offended is the right word here — that she doesn’t get Freshman of the Week,” Kohan said. “And I think there are a lot of weeks where that kid deserves Freshman of the Week. In my opinion, she deserves Freshman of the Year for this conference. … There was a little bit of personal motivation to say that she is just as deserving for some of these weekly awards.”
As with most games, Jameson proved to be one of the most consistent players on the court, utilizing the front row just as much as the back, whether it was from digs or kills, too. Jameson is one of the most versatile hitters on the court as she is not only the team’s lead hitter from the back row, but capitalizes on her “Halle shot” — a line-drive from outside over her shoulder.
And in the back row, Jameson tallied 14 digs and one service ace.
“Halle’s really flourished and had a great game, and so (that) can just be something to rely on,” Wilson said.
As the regular conference season winds down, CSU continues to sharpen its weapons with Debiec leading the charge as setter. She recently hit 1,000 career assists only as a redshirt freshman.
In Thursday’s match, Debiec added another 46 assists to her record. And besides assists, she was also solid at the net, dumping the ball over a few times, and never hesitated to go up for the joust when needed.
Without Debiec, the Rams wouldn’t have been able to get their powerful start at the front.
“We could be a tough team to scout, because who (are) you going to focus on?” Kohan said. “If you focus on just Eve, then the outsides can take over. But yeah, Eve and Halle were incredible. … And I thought Erin did a really nice job getting those two going, and if (GCU) can’t stop them, why stop setting them?”
CSU will go on to Saturday, where it will play its final home match of the season against New Mexico, in which the team will recognize its departing seniors and add all the final touches in terms of skills before heading to the MW Tournament.
“We never want to take a game off, so we’re gonna go out, we’re gonna perform our best against New Mexico,” Jameson said. “We’re just working on staying cohesive as a team and having a lot of energy throughout the whole game.”
Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on social media @sophgwebb.
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