Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics –
LAS VEGAS – The Colorado State volleyball team defeated San Jose State on Saturday afternoon in four sets (27-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16) to claim the 2024 Mountain West Tournament Championship, sweeping both the regular-season and tournament titles and punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament set to begin next weekend.
While the Spartans lined up on the other side of the Rams having split the regular-season series, coach Emily Kohan‘s group of Rams was able to prevail victorious, redeeming a championship runner-up finish from last season.
Kohan credited the five fifth-year seniors on the Colorado State roster all season for their leadership and determination, and Saturday afternoon that group locked up the 24th Mountain West Championship in program history.
Those fifth-years, opting to return to Colorado State for what will be most of their final years of eligibility, are Emery Herman, Naeemah Weathers, Kennedy Stanford, Karina Leber and Malaya Jones. Herman, Weathers, Leber and Jones were all named to the Mountain West All-Tournament team after Saturday’s match with Herman being named MVP after totaling 34 assists, four kills and seven digs in the championship match, distributing the Rams offense at a .409 attack percentage.
After advancing to the championship game with a win over San Diego State on Friday afternoon, the Rams claimed the first set over San Jose State, going into deuce points with nine tie scores and four lead changes. Thanks to eight kills to open the match from Jones and a resilient Rams’ defense Colorado State took the opening set, setting a very competitive tone throughout the match.
In the second set, it was the Rams ability to side out well and prevent long Spartan service runs in order to jump out to a 2-0 lead . Six kills again from Jones was backed as by both middle blockers for the Rams, Leber and Weathers, turning up the heat as both hit above .500 in the set with five and three kills, respectively.
A defensive clinch also built momentum for the Rams in the second frame with Stanford and Herman both totaling six digs in the second set alone and Aine Doty and Kate Yoshimoto both added five. In a game of long rallies, the stamina of the Rams held true.
The third set featured the Spartans punch back that Colorado State expected from a team playing with its back against the wall in a win or go home championship match. San Jose State’s Blaire Fleming led the Spartan offense with nine kills, giving the Spartans a lead going into the later half of the set. Facing set point for San Jose State, the Rams were able to rally off three more points, but eventually dropped the set 25-23.
At this point, déjà vu would be expected for the Rams, who went up 2-0 over Fresno State in the 2023 Mountain West Tournament Championship game, just before falling to the Bulldogs in five sets. But Kohan’s group of experienced Rams took the déjà vu moments as one they didn’t want to repeat.
Opening the fourth set with a Maria Brun service run would be exactly how the set would end for the Rams with nine tie scores and four lead changes. Eight kills from Jones, 14 assists from Herman and three kills on three attempts for Naeemah Weathers led Brun back to the line with an 18-16 lead.
The Spartans wouldn’t score another point.
Brun went on a seven-point streak, including two kills by Jones, a kill by Weathers and two Brun service aces, most importantly the ace that ended the match and clinched the victory for the Rams.
It’s the 24th in program history but the second for Kohan this season in just her second year at the helm. She also leads the Rams to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2019.
The Rams will await their placement fate on Sunday at 4 p.m. when the NCAA Selection Show takes place, revealing the 64-team bracket for the first-round matchups set to take place December 5th.
