As an athlete, nothing will get you out of bed in the morning like a rivalry game. Tuesday night, the powers of Mountain West volleyball will play the second leg of the 2019 Border War as Colorado State volleyball hosts the University of Wyoming at Moby Arena.

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The Rams and the Pokes will battle once again to see who is the best in the Mountain West. Earlier this season, when both teams played each other in Laramie, CSU managed to beat the Cowgirls in a back-and-forth five-set game (20-25, 25-16, 27-29, 25-20, 15-10). The 3-2 win came off a career night from Breana Runnels, as the outside hitter recorded 29 kills, a service ace and five digs. This was the first time a Ram has hit 29 kills in a single game since Dre Downs notched that amount against the University of Colorado Boulder.

If any team in the conference has been paying close attention to the Rams’ win streak, it’s Wyoming. The Cowgirls are riding a seven game win streak and have won nine of their last 10, with the one loss coming against CSU. Currently, the Rams sit at 10-0, and Wyoming is 9-1 in the Mountain West Conference. 

Last Saturday, the Rams earned their 20th win of the season with a 3-0 sweep over the University of Nevada. CSU put up nine blocks, including five in the first set, and kept the Wolf Pack to a .095 hitting mark. This match helped the Rams see what adjustments to their rotation worked well and which ones didn’t.

The Rams need to improve upon how they played the Cowgirls the first time this season. The Pokes kept themselves comfortable throughout the previous contest despite the last two sets. The defense has to be on point against the Cowgirls’ strong offense; CSU needs to adjust their rotation accordingly.

This past Saturday, Wyoming swept San Jose State (29-27, 25-15, 25-19). A huge part of their success came from their defensive support; Madi Fields and Erika Jones are two talented players on defense.

The upcoming game against CSU is without a doubt the Cowgirls’ biggest game of the season. They’ll look for their first win over a ranked opponent this season after losing to No. 10 Creighton, who was ranked No. 15 at the time, and No. 14 CSU in the two teams’ last meeting. 

For the Pokes’ offense, Jackie McBride is the driving force for their attack. McBride, a native of Aurora, Colorado, is currently fourth in the conference with a .364 hitting percent and ranks top 10 in points scored on the season with 285.

Fields grabs most of the digs for the Cowgirls. She recorded 12 digs in the contest against the Spartans. Her defensive partner, Jones, pitched in eight digs. Fields and Jones are important to watch out for, and the Rams have to be careful not to serve the ball in their direction. 

A reason for optimism, the Rams’ offenses have CSU ranked first in the conference and have amassed an impressive .288 hitting percentage.

CSU ranks near the top of every statistical category as a team and as individual players. The Rams own three of the top 10 point scorers in the conference with Runnels (327 points), Kirstie Hillyer (269 points) and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen (263 points).

There is no doubt that the Cowgirls are coming to town to stop CSU’s winning streak and continue their own. Students should come and show their support not only for the Rams in the Border War game, but also for State Pride night at Moby. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

CORRECTION: A previous version of the article stated the start time for the game was 5 p.m. The game is set for 7 p.m. MST. 

Angel Cooper can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @angelcooper05.