No external strain from political disagreement could slow Colorado State volleyball down, as the Rams collected yet another victory Thursday night.

CSU now stands at a 7-6 record for its entire season. But now entering conference play, the team has asserted its place at the top of the Mountain West, not having lost a game yet. 

San Jose State put up a tough fight but could not manage to secure a set. The Spartans lost in three sets — 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 — against the CSU’s well-oiled machine.

“One of our core values is unity, and we really wanted to stick together and be a team that is able to go on a quest for a championship,” Naeemah Weathers said. “Being able to kind of stick to the program and do it together was something that was super important to all of us.”

Amid the controversy regarding former collegiate athlete and political activist Riley Gaines’ lawsuit stating that the NCAA’s Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy
violates Title IX and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, CSU elected to compete against the Spartans Thursday night.

The controversy regarding SJSU ramped up online when SJSU player Brooke Slusser joined Gaines’ class action lawsuit, claiming she has a transgender teammate who she said she believes has a physical advantage over other players and stating concerns regarding safety and equality within the sport.

A total of four schools cancelled their game against SJSU, but CSU was collective in its decision that, yes, the team was making a statement but also working its way back to the championship game.

“We’ve talked a lot about controlling our destiny in conference,” Kennedy Stanford said. “(We are) coming out and taking command and proving that we are the team to beat in this conference.”

Coach Emily Kohan said the program would not force players to play against SJSU; still, the team came out as a full unified front, with the typical starting players active on the court, including team leaders Malaya Jones, Stanford and Weathers. 

With strong attackers came ease on the court. CSU recorded 13 more kills than SJSU and another sweep on the court — the team’s second this season. 

“I’m really proud with our team leading with kindness and continuing to discover their own self and what’s important to them,” Kohan said.

CSU glided into its third win in a row against SJSU with ease, as Maria Brun went on a serving spree, tallying a game-high three aces to secure team momentum and, evidently, the first set.

Despite making it look easy, the Rams hitting .347 compared to San Jose’s .100 was not a simple feat. While racking up points on the court, the team understood that people watching were aware of the impact their participation in the game made.

“It’s an incredibly complex and divisive issue, and we went into it having a conversation with our team, and I’m very proud of how thoughtful our leadership was the entire time,” Kohan said. “We represent a university where inclusivity is something that we prioritize, and I was really proud with the way our team handled the discussions.” 

Playing or not playing was a crucial decision on CSU’s behalf, especially considering the match was played on CSU’s Inclusive Excellence Day. 

CSU’s overarching statement on Inclusive Excellence reads: “Where diversity, equity and inclusion are not just ideals, but the foundations of Colorado State’s progress and innovation.”

Completely righting their wrongs from the beginning of the season in terms of losses, Rams’ volleyball not only stands together but excels at what they are doing, remaining undefeated in their conference season.

“When (the Rams are) in (their) system, they’re tough to stop, and they seem to be in (the) system a lot in their home gym,” said Todd Kress, SJSU volleyball coach. “They just have a lot of weapons that they can throw at you at any given time and make it very difficult to slow them down.”

As for SJSU, a team that was previously undefeated before facing off against the Rams, its routine was broken and so was the nine-win streak.

“We lost because we didn’t play like ourselves, and there was so much more that we walked away not giving that we should have,” Slusser said. “We’d rather that happen now than later on and be able to grow and learn from it.”

Similar to CSU, SJSU also wanted to appear as a connected united front and leave the divisiveness off the court.

It was vital that politics not interfere with the game and the tension end wherever it started, with nothing left that could overstep players’ boundaries, Kress said.

“When we walk into that gym, it’s all about mutual respect,” Slusser said. “We love each other at the end of the day.”

Slusser chose to provide no further comments regarding the situation off the court.

“There’s a human in the jersey number three over there, and there’s a lot of stakeholders on our team that have individual opinions about it,” Kohan said. “We decided to prioritize our unity and our quest for a conference championship and try to make this statement in playing.”

By opting to play the game, the Rams are confirming their dominance and demonstrating their place as the No. 1 team in the conference.

The Rams have become more established, whether it’s with their lineup or skills, showing that when they play Fresno State Saturday, they can win and get one step closer to claiming the Mountain West Tournament Championship game. 

“It’s a completely different set of emotion(s),” Kohan said. “We want some revenge because that was our championship game. We’ve always said we’re our best team when we’re doing our thing.”

Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @sophgwebb.

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