A team that can keep the tone going is a team prepared for anything.
Colorado State volleyball set to expand its win streak to four Saturday against New Mexico for its final match of the season at Moby Arena.
After falling behind early in the first set, CSU was able to flip the momentum and not let it go — except for a fatal moment in the second set, causing the match to go to four sets.
The Rams kept their streak alive defeating UNM 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-13, 26-17). Flipping around a season struggle of starting out slow, CSU was determined and different from the start. CSU’s hitting percentage by the end of the match was 30%, nearly doubling UNM who hit a 16%.
“I was really proud today that we started stronger,” head coach Emily Kohan said. “We’ve started a little slow in the past few games. That was a big thing (of emphasis), we can start strong and end strong and make life a little easier.”
Even when the tone shifted in the Lobos’ favor — especially during the second set when they began to take more aggressive swings and capitalize on CSU blocking errors — the Rams quickly took back the lead and finished strong.
CSU’s offense was still able to show its power, Eve Wilson led the team with 15 kills with Halle Jameson not far behind at 12 kills. Once CSU was able to adjust going into the third and fourth set where they held off the Lobos, the Rams never looked back.
“During the second set New Mexico just started playing really aggressively,” Kohan said. “I think our hitters were a little frustrated. After set two, the message was ‘It’s not a crime to get dug. Stay patient, wear them down,’ which I thought we did in sets three and four.”
That patience worked for the Rams as they began to outpace the Lobos. Not only was CSU’s offensive strong, but it was able to clean up the defense. The team finished with 62 digs and Kekua Richards had key blocks against the Lobos, slowing their attack.
“We worked on moving on defense, there were a lot of balls that were hitting the block, and I feel like we weren’t ready for those,” libero Aine Doty said. We adjusted to that and we served a lot harder.”
Beyond the demands the team needed to work through, they also had to rope in the emotions that were running high during the game. It wasn’t just the last game of the season at Moby but also five seniors last time playing there: Doty, Jazen Dębina, Zosia Szczotkiewicz, Delaney McIntosh and Riley Simpson.
“I was definitely a little bit more emotional before the game,” Doty said. “(It’s) my last game in Moby, but once I stepped onto the court, I realized that I have got to get to work and can’t have any emotions, so I’m just in the game.”
After securing the second seed earlier this week, this win allowed the Rams to see how they could set themselves up for success going into tournament play. The Rams now will shift their attention to Las Vegas where the 2025 Mountain West Conference will be held.
“We’ve played every team so far, but everyone’s a brand new team.” Richards said. “Just because we won against them one time, doesn’t mean we’re gonna win again. We have to give it our all, give it our all and want it a bit more than everyone else.”
The tone that the team carried throughout the night shows that everything CSU has pushed for this season can be sustained. Heading into the MW Tournament, that could be exactly what will carry the team the furthest.
Reach Abigail Wood at sports@collegian.com or on social media @Abigaiil_Wood.
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