LAS VEGAS — Green and gold balloons and green confetti once symbolized the goal for Colorado State volleyball, marking a first place finish in the conference. However, the team had its sights set on something bigger: first for the Mountain West tournament championship.

And that is exactly what the Rams did when they beat San Jose State Saturday (27-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16). Except this time they were showered with purple and silver confetti as the trophy was passed along; a trophy CSU volleyball has not held since 2011. 

Even though many tried to turn this tournament into a political spectacle, CSU said no. This was about volleyball and volleyball only. By playing, CSU was not trying to make a statement about SJSU but instead showing that it is one and that one can win. 

“We couldn’t control what the crowd was going to do or what lineup is going to roll out there or what’s going to happen, but we can control the way we play on our side,” coach Emily Kohan said. “And that’s what we’ve done all year with any opponent we’ve played, so just trying to reframe it to be something that is something we can control.”

Since September, controversy has been following SJSU. If schools forfeited against SJSU it was a comment on the topic regarding transgender athletes in sports, but if a school played it was more of a gray area.

That was already one outside force pushing itself onto the court, but recently three players at CSU have gained attention for kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem. But this is not something new. These players have been doing this for years together, but now, after a viral post on X, formerly known as Twitter, people have turned their heads toward CSU. 

“They’ve knelt since their freshman year when the Black Lives Matter movement was going on,” Kohan said. “In this program, we raise critical thinkers to be able to make decisions for what’s important to them and for those three, they’re black players. It’s been important to them for five years, and they’ve stood their ground for saying that this is something that they believe in, and we’ve all supported them.”

CSU ended the Mountain West tournament — and the controversy along with it. 

The Rams were simply a team that proved their dominance on the court. SJSU did not go down without a fight though.

“Our team — individually and collectively — decided to stay a group and to show courage in the way we were going to play and the way we were going to make our statement by controlling our own destiny,” Kohan said. “But I also think it says a statement for us about, we could be courageous too.”

Despite the score remaining within a few points at a time, CSU outcompeted SJSU in every statistical category except service aces. SJSU attacked the ball a total of 161 times, CSU only 132, but CSU still got seven more kills from those attacks. 

This win was a testament to the season the Rams have had. Before the tournament, Kohan was named Coach of the Year and Malaya Jones was named Player of the Year. As soon as the Rams won, Emery Herman was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. 

“I’m just so proud of us,” Kohan said. “We stuck together through a lot and against a lot of odds and a lot of negative energy, and we controlled our own destiny. And I think we made a statement in the process. … We’ve been able to stay about the Rams — about the Ramily — and not be nasty humans.”

Throughout the game, MVP Herman was able to get 50 assists and 16 digs, five more than the team’s primary libero. 

This tournament has also allowed the offense to shine, Jones scored 26 kills hitting a .429 throughout the game, almost ten more than second place SJSU’s Blaire Fleming. Jones also got three blocks, tying for most on the team with Naeemah Weathers.

Similar to CSU’s previous match, media was unable to speak with players.

“There’s been a lot of focus on my players and maybe people trying to pick at them and picking these young humans, and they’re amazing humans,” Kohan said. “I got vet school, pre-med master’s degrees — you couldn’t ask to be them for better humans. And people are still trying to kind of come at them and try to make them pretty vulnerable. So I’m here to make sure I try to protect my players was just something I always wanted.”

Despite having a tight first three sets, CSU was determined to finish the match for good. And when it was able to achieve that began with a kill by Jones. Before her attack, the team stood at 17 points versus SJSU’s 16. But after that point, the Rams went on an eight point run, SJSU never scoring again. 

After the game, Kohan told her players in a huddle, “This is your moment.”

Due to the win, the team is automatically entered into the national NCAA volleyball tournament.

No matter what outside negative comments were made surrounding the game, the Rams left the game with a smile on their face and a championship win under their belts. Jones held up a W with her fingers, saying to her teammates and crowd, “I told y’all all season.”

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