Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, November 18
Fort Collins, CO
6:00 PM
Colorado State
18-11,12-6Mountain West
3
vs
0
Air Force
17-12,9-9Mountain West
1
2
3
F
Air Force
19
22
20
0
Colorado St.
25
25
25
3
Rams Sweep Falcons on Senior Night
11/18/2023 9:07:00 PM | Volleyball
Service success and overall effort ramps confidence up heading into conference tournament
By: Braidon Nourse
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The idea was simple: win and earn a first-round bye in the Mountain West tournament. The notion was slightly complicated by the emotion coursing through Moby Arena Saturday night.
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Colorado State's volleyball match against Air Force was the last of the season at home. Five seniors — Annie Sullivan, Anna Porter, Alyssa Groves, Ruby Kayser and Barrett Power — were recognized for senior night before the match began. Air Force had to win to earn a spot in the tournament.
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In many ways, the emotion before the match was palpable, but whichever side was going to win knew they had to dial it down and play good volleyball. That happened to be the Rams, who scored their second straight sweep to finish off the regular season, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20.
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Because of the nature of the sweep, head coach Emily Kohan was able to use all five of her seniors in the match. Kayser, Porter and Sullivan got their usual time on the court; Groves and Power came in for the last few points — one last chance at home to earn a victory.
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"I thought it was great. Senior night is emotional at the beginning and we had talked about it in the locker room," Kohan said. "We said you're going to have all these emotions and it's the last time you're going to be in front of this great Moby crowd, but you have to recompose yourself and be ready to play volleyball at the end of it. They played great volleyball and it was really neat at the end of the match to be able to put the two seniors in and have them close it out for us."
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The way her team was able to control their emotions was impressive to Kohan. Even more so was the way they embodied one of her biggest points of emphasis the entire way through — serving hard.
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The Rams finished the first set with four service aces in the first set alone, and like a machine repeating effective motions time and time again, they piled on the hard serves. They finished with 13 service aces — tied for third-most in a three set match in program history. Kennedy Stanford finished with a career high of five by herself.
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"We knew we had to come out and serve tough because their middles really are dominant players," Stanford said. "So I just came out with that aggression from the start and once we were able to get them out of system, I think it kind of helped to build momentum.
Â
"I think it was a great win for our seniors on senior night, but it was also a great win knowing what the other team was playing for. They came out with a lot of energy and I think we really amped that down in a situation where we technically didn't have as much to play for. But I think just coming out with the intensity we did was really impressive."
Â
Stanford's statline of five aces and 11 kills to go with six digs was something Kohan said she should be very happy with after "trying to figure out how to get some of her umph back" for a portion of the season.
Â
And it came at the perfect time.
Â
Technically, because of the way other Mountain West matches finished Saturday, the Rams didn't have to beat Air Force to earn the two-seed. Kohan didn't let them in on the knowledge beforehand. Instead, she wanted to see her team play like everything was on the line, to catch a glimpse at the type of effort they're able to produce just ahead of the tournament.
Â
"I don't know if they were aware going into the match that they were already the second seed," Kohan said. "But to be able to confirm it on your own accord and get a sweep on senior night and know we're going to have a bye on Wednesday, I think that's extra special."
Â
For Malaya Jones, it meant more to get this type of a win for every reason you could think of.
Â
Senior night, momentum, a first-round bye. Just a few things on the mind of Jones.
Â
"It means everything. We knew it was an important game for our seniors, we wanted to play for them, but we wanted to clinch the second seed no matter what," Jones said. "No matter what the standings were, we wanted to go get that for ourselves and it was huge we were able to do that."
Â
Perhaps the biggest lesson learned for Jones, though, was how to deal with a tough defense which really did play like it was their last game of the season. She had 13 kills on 38 total attacks, most of which were acrobatically dug by the Falcons' defenders early on in the match.
Â
A frustrating thing to have happen, especially when chock full of emotion and desire to perform well. Kohan eased her frustration by telling her it's okay to be met with good defense. Jones took the message and ran with it.
Â
Of her match-leading 13 kills, seven came in the third set.
Â
"It was mostly just understanding that it's fine to be dug," Jones said. "It's a compliment to them if they can dig like they did. I just tried to be in the mindset of powering through and not doing anything too fancy."
Â
Now, heading into the tournament, one thing is on the mind of Jones and the rest of her team: carry the momentum of two straight sweeps against teams which had much to play for.
Â
For Jones, the faith is through the roof. From her perspective, the team is playing at a level as high as has been all year on both ends, particularly on defense.
Â
"I'm absolutely confident," Jones said. "I believe in this team no matter what and I have the confidence that everything is falling into place. This is some of our best volleyball defensively that we've ever played. Our offense is great, too, but I think our defense is really starting to match that, so I'm really confident and excited, and I think we're going to do great things."
Â
The Rams will play the winner of the third- and sixth-seeded teams in the conference Thursday, Nov. 23.
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The idea was simple: win and earn a first-round bye in the Mountain West tournament. The notion was slightly complicated by the emotion coursing through Moby Arena Saturday night.
Â
Colorado State's volleyball match against Air Force was the last of the season at home. Five seniors — Annie Sullivan, Anna Porter, Alyssa Groves, Ruby Kayser and Barrett Power — were recognized for senior night before the match began. Air Force had to win to earn a spot in the tournament.
Â
In many ways, the emotion before the match was palpable, but whichever side was going to win knew they had to dial it down and play good volleyball. That happened to be the Rams, who scored their second straight sweep to finish off the regular season, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20.
Â
Because of the nature of the sweep, head coach Emily Kohan was able to use all five of her seniors in the match. Kayser, Porter and Sullivan got their usual time on the court; Groves and Power came in for the last few points — one last chance at home to earn a victory.
Â
"I thought it was great. Senior night is emotional at the beginning and we had talked about it in the locker room," Kohan said. "We said you're going to have all these emotions and it's the last time you're going to be in front of this great Moby crowd, but you have to recompose yourself and be ready to play volleyball at the end of it. They played great volleyball and it was really neat at the end of the match to be able to put the two seniors in and have them close it out for us."
Â
The way her team was able to control their emotions was impressive to Kohan. Even more so was the way they embodied one of her biggest points of emphasis the entire way through — serving hard.
Â
The Rams finished the first set with four service aces in the first set alone, and like a machine repeating effective motions time and time again, they piled on the hard serves. They finished with 13 service aces — tied for third-most in a three set match in program history. Kennedy Stanford finished with a career high of five by herself.
Â
"We knew we had to come out and serve tough because their middles really are dominant players," Stanford said. "So I just came out with that aggression from the start and once we were able to get them out of system, I think it kind of helped to build momentum.
Â
"I think it was a great win for our seniors on senior night, but it was also a great win knowing what the other team was playing for. They came out with a lot of energy and I think we really amped that down in a situation where we technically didn't have as much to play for. But I think just coming out with the intensity we did was really impressive."
Â
Stanford's statline of five aces and 11 kills to go with six digs was something Kohan said she should be very happy with after "trying to figure out how to get some of her umph back" for a portion of the season.
Â
And it came at the perfect time.
Â
Technically, because of the way other Mountain West matches finished Saturday, the Rams didn't have to beat Air Force to earn the two-seed. Kohan didn't let them in on the knowledge beforehand. Instead, she wanted to see her team play like everything was on the line, to catch a glimpse at the type of effort they're able to produce just ahead of the tournament.
Â
"I don't know if they were aware going into the match that they were already the second seed," Kohan said. "But to be able to confirm it on your own accord and get a sweep on senior night and know we're going to have a bye on Wednesday, I think that's extra special."
Â
For Malaya Jones, it meant more to get this type of a win for every reason you could think of.
Â
Senior night, momentum, a first-round bye. Just a few things on the mind of Jones.
Â
"It means everything. We knew it was an important game for our seniors, we wanted to play for them, but we wanted to clinch the second seed no matter what," Jones said. "No matter what the standings were, we wanted to go get that for ourselves and it was huge we were able to do that."
Â
Perhaps the biggest lesson learned for Jones, though, was how to deal with a tough defense which really did play like it was their last game of the season. She had 13 kills on 38 total attacks, most of which were acrobatically dug by the Falcons' defenders early on in the match.
Â
A frustrating thing to have happen, especially when chock full of emotion and desire to perform well. Kohan eased her frustration by telling her it's okay to be met with good defense. Jones took the message and ran with it.
Â
Of her match-leading 13 kills, seven came in the third set.
Â
"It was mostly just understanding that it's fine to be dug," Jones said. "It's a compliment to them if they can dig like they did. I just tried to be in the mindset of powering through and not doing anything too fancy."
Â
Now, heading into the tournament, one thing is on the mind of Jones and the rest of her team: carry the momentum of two straight sweeps against teams which had much to play for.
Â
For Jones, the faith is through the roof. From her perspective, the team is playing at a level as high as has been all year on both ends, particularly on defense.
Â
"I'm absolutely confident," Jones said. "I believe in this team no matter what and I have the confidence that everything is falling into place. This is some of our best volleyball defensively that we've ever played. Our offense is great, too, but I think our defense is really starting to match that, so I'm really confident and excited, and I think we're going to do great things."
Â
The Rams will play the winner of the third- and sixth-seeded teams in the conference Thursday, Nov. 23.
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Team Stats
USAFA
CSU
Kills
33
41
Errors
12
19
Attempts
97
106
Hitting %
.216
.208
Points
41.0
59.0
Assists
31
38
Aces
2
13
Blocks
6
5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
5
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
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