Whether there’s a hair’s length or a mile left before the finish line, if that final line isn’t crossed, winning is out of reach.

In Colorado State volleyball’s 3-1 loss (21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 23-25) to Michigan State Saturday night, the Rams fought tooth and nail to get to that finish line but just couldn’t cross it.

Each set, CSU kept itself toe-to-toe with the Spartans, tallying 26 ties over the four frames played.

However, once it came down to putting the final nail in the coffin, the Rams went silent.

“We knew they were pretty big — they’re a big, physical team,” coach Emily Kohan said. “We’ve got to learn to cover a little better.”

Having now played their second consecutive match without veteran libero Kate Yoshimoto, who got a concussion, the Rams have experimented with different strategies to replace Yoshimoto’s talent.

After starting Aine Doty in Friday’s match against Florida, Delaney McIntosh received most of the minutes at libero Saturday against Michigan State.

“Aine and Delaney did a great job,” Emery Herman said. “It’s always difficult — Kate’s been the libero for three years, so it’s always just a bump in the road. I think they did a great job just coming in with great attitudes, and they worked really hard.”

While the starting libero job may still be up in the air, the Rams’ front-row defense was firing on all cylinders against the Spartans.

Michigan State found themselves stuffed time and time again by Naeemah Weathers, Herman and Karina Leber. The Rams outblocked the Spartans 13-10.

Herman said the team was prepared for Michigan State’s size and physicality and did a great job maneuvering around it.

“We knew what their blocking schemes were,” Herman said. “Double blocks are always hard against a big team, but (our outsides) were able to get around it.”

However, no matter how well they played, CSU still struggled to finish when each set came down to brass tacks.

All four sets finished within five points, yet only one managed to fall the green and gold’s way.

“They were a good team — respect to them,” Leber said. “I think we just struggled a little bit with servicing.”

The Spartans had 11 service aces over four sets, nearly tripling CSU’s four.

On the offensive side for the Rams, one name stood above all: Malaya Jones.

The Mountain West All-Conference opposite tallied 22 kills off of a 0.357 hitting percentage with four blocks.

When it comes to describing how dominant Jones is — especially in clutch moments — Kohan boiled it down to just two words.

“She just has the it factor,” Kohan said. “The bigger the game, the more she wants to swing and the bigger load she wants to carry. She’s developed into a big gamer that wants to do those big things.”

Herman, who is now entering her second season as Jones’ setter, feels the Herman-Jones connection is alive and well.

The graduate setter recorded 41 assists on the night, over double MSU setter Rachel Muisenga‘s 20.

“(She just has a) killer mentality,” Herman said. “Just, ‘I’m going to get set, and I’m going to kill the ball.'”

Reach Will Engle at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @willengle44.