Back to the drawing board.

For the third match in a row, Colorado State volleyball lost a four-set nail-biter Tuesday night. In their 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 23-25) loss to Northern Colorado, the Rams just couldn’t seem to grab those final few points to close out set wins they desperately needed.

For Malaya Jones, it’s clear to her that the team needs a mentality reset before they take on three opponents next weekend, including No. 12 Oregon.

“I think we have a really big opponent in Oregon coming up,” Jones said. “I was just telling the team ‘We have really good teams that are coming this weekend and we need to come out swinging and we have to completely change our mindset of how we’re going about this.'”

In their three games to start the season, the Rams have struggled to find their rhythm in the service game.

The green and gold have tallied 15 service aces across their three games played, nearly half the mark of their opponents, who have recorded 28. Thankfully for the Rams, the Bears gifted them a whopping 19 service errors on the night, bringing CSU’s opponents’ total to 41, seven higher than the Rams’ 36.

“Right now as a team in general we’re kind of having a hard time finding that happy medium,” Taylor Pagan said. “As we continue to go on within the season we’re going to play better teams so having a lot of (good) service is going to help get them out of system. … I think we all know what we need to do, just getting there is kind of a different story.”

Jones once again led the way for the Rams on the leaderboard, posting 13 kills off a 0.229 hitting percentage, both her worst marks of the season.

While certainly used to standing above the rest, Jones was joined by a fresh face at the top: Pagan.

Pagan, who transitioned into a starting role to begin the season after seeing little playing time last season, has cemented herself as a standout player in the Rams’ lineup.

The sophomore outside hitter recorded 10 kills and eight digs on the night while hitting .200.

“She’s just super brave,” coach Emily Kohan said. “She swings really hard at all the balls. We’re trying to teach her the trajectory to swing at so they’re not blocked as often. You’ve got to love her bravery to swing hard at balls like that.”

However, Pagan didn’t view her night the same way.

The outside hitter said she finds it difficult to take pride in her work when the end result for her team isn’t what she wanted.

“I feel like it’s kind of tough,” Pagan said. “Just because whenever we lose either a set or the game I just think about the singular points (where) maybe I could have done better or maybe call out a ball better. So me personally, I don’t feel like I have (done well).”

On the Bears’ side of the net, setter Syd Cole was an anchor for UNC, posting a double-double with 39 assists and 13 digs.

Kohan had nothing but praise for how Cole impacted the court in their contest.

“I think she’s a phenomenal setter,” Kohan said. “I think she’s one of the best setters we play all year. She distributes the offense really well. She’s always making people guess around. She’s a very very talented player.”

In CSU’s lone set victory of the night, set two, the Rams’ front line seemed impenetrable.

The green and gold tallied six blocks in a single set, a number that took the Bears three total sets to reach.

Middle blocker Naeemah Weathers was on fire for the Rams defensively, posting six total blocks, the most of any player.

“I think (our blocking) was just really really good,” Jones said. “We had a good communication stream throughout the three of us and we just told each other we’re not going to let a single ball get past us so we had some really really great blocks.”

The team will take on Oregon Sept. 6, Central Arkansas Sept. 7 and Grand Canyon Sept. 8, all in Moby Arena.

“I think once we hone in and we win those three games — I hope so — I think it’s really going to change and shift our mentality for the rest of the season,” Jones said.

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