Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics –
BOULDER – The Colorado State volleyball team closes out non-conference play on the road Friday night, taking home the Golden Spike Trophy beating in-state rival Colorado 3-1 at the CU Event Center in Boulder.
After dropping game one of the home-and-home series with the Buffs Thursday night, the Rams battled back to claim the Golden Spike Trophy by winning in four sets Friday night. The trophy goes to the team who wins the most sets in the two-game matchup with game two acting as the tiebreaker game.
With the last two seasons being split series and Colorado claiming the trophy on both occasions, it came down to a critical third set in each matchup that, in game two, turned the tide in favor of the Rams in Boulder.
In game one Friday, CU took the third set 32-30 in extra points. Afterward, you could physically feel the energy leave Moby Arena with still a set to play. Colorado State was not going to let that happen again Friday.
The Rams started off strong, taking the first set 25-21. Fifth-year middle blocker Naeemah Weathers contributed five kills in the first set alone with the help of fifth-year setter Emery Herman who dished out 15 assists.
But it was the Buffs that responded once again in the second, tying the match at one all with a 25-20 second set victory.
Similar to Thursday night, just in the opposite order, the advantage would come down to the third set. The Rams, without their 5,000-plus attendance crowd from Thursday night in Fort Collins behind them, needed to bring their own energy into a crucial set.
Earning the set win, once again in extra points including scoring five of the last seven points, the Rams took the advantage set 27-25 and they never looked back.
Malaya Jones continued to spark the offense for the Rams, coming alive in the third set with seven kills, totaling 22 kills throughout the match. She was accompanied by Weathers, who set a season high 12 kills on the match and notched a team-high hitting percentage of .667 by the end of the night.
Along with Jones and Weathers, Kennedy Stanford produced 11 kills, Karina Leber with eight, and Maria Brun with five allowing for the offense to be spread across the board, keeping the Buffs on their toes.
This strong ability to distribute from Herman, who matched her season-high with 48 assists, was on full display in the fourth set as the Rams got out to a 5-0 start thanks to a service run from Brun.
The rest of the set, the Buffs were unable to pull within a four-point margin of the Rams as Colorado State literally ran away with the Golden Spike Trophy, all the way back to Fort Collins.
The final frame ended in a 25-17 dominant final set from Colorado State, putting a cherry on top of their extensive non-conference season.
As the Rams close their pre-conference season, Mountain West play will begin next week as the Rams will head back on the road to face 2023 Regular Season Champion Utah State in Logan on Thursday night.
