The infamous Border War returned to Moby Arena Tuesday night, but Colorado State volleyball swiftly asserted its dominance for the second year in a row.
The teams were neck and neck, each just two points away from taking the set. Colorado State could not clean up its side of the court, losing the first set.
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Wyoming should hang on tightly to that moment, as that was the only time CSU would let Wyoming shine for the rest of the match losing the final three sets (23-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21).
“They are a really functional team with a lot of great players in different positions,” coach Emily Kohan said. “I was really proud of the way we covered and give our hitters some confidence to keep swinging, and servers got after it too.”
Despite a rocky start, CSU made a clean finish, part of the reason being Malaya Jones, a rock for the team who managed to stay consistent even when errors crept their way onto CSU’s court.
Overall, CSU knew how to come at a game and attack with strength. The Rams hit 0.112 better than Wyoming with a 0.297 hitting percentage. Jones was the team leader in kills, having five more than second place.
“I think I just really tell myself over and over, ‘You have to give to your team so that we can be successful,” Jones said. “I think it just means so much to me, so that’s why I like really push it in the court.”
With a strong start of out of the gate, CSU had confirmed its win within the first few points, maintaining energy both on and off the court. That was until Wyoming began to take some points back, then some more, causing the Rams to call timeouts regardless if they were winning or not.
Not only did happen in the first set, but the second and third as well. Nothing like a good case of court déjà vu to make spectators wonder: this again?
“It was not our prettiest volleyball, but I respect the fact that we were able to kind of recompose ourselves after that first set and figure out how to compete,” Kohan said. “We started having a little better timing and block lineups and slowing down some of their hitters, and then that makes the floor defense job a little bit easier.”
The fourth set fully belonged to CSU; it finished off the match strong, keeping up its undefeated conference record, now 5-0.
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Right with Jones swinging away at Wyoming defense was Naeemah Weathers, who was second in kills for CSU at 12 and hitting .500, yet she was not just a leader skill-wise.
“(My teammates) have told me that I’m like an Energizer Bunny, they’ve told me that I just never stopped bouncing around,” Weathers said. “It’s super fun to be able to be that person for them, and I hope I can be that person for them for the rest of my career here.”
Energy is just as important as skill on the court, whenever Weathers steps on the court, it is evident that a smile is wide on her face as she hypes up her teammates.
That is not only seen by her teammates when she is cheering them on, but by her fans. Groups of Weathers’ supporters always line up to talk or even just get a hug from her post-game.
“The middle schoolers have come up to me and they’ve been like, ‘We have a chant: Be like Nemo,’” Weathers said. “I think it’s pretty cool to be a role model with your affect in the way that you play. It’s actually really sweet, so I’m super excited that I get to do that too.”
With these team leaders lifting up the court in multiple aspects, it helps the Rams prepare for their next game against Boise State, who is ranked second nationally for service aces per set.
If CSU plans on continuing to keep its winning streak, the team will need to focus on not letting the opposing team sneak back during the middle of the set and instead remain in that locked mindset whilst minimizing errors.
“We just have to be a little bit more consistent and quicker with our blocking adjustments, I think that that’s where we can work on especially with a heavy hitter,” Jones said. “(We need) to start keeping up with surface pressure, that’s what really is making us one of the top teams in the conference.”
Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @sophgwebb.
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