No Longer Babies, The Exit Fits the Dream
NCAA Tournament represents final volleyball stop for trio
Mike Brohard
They look back all the time. They remember. They definitely laugh. Like a bunch of great aunts sitting out on the front porch swing, plenty of their stories begin with, ‘You remember when …”
It’s not a distraction for the roommates. It’s life. It’s Karina Leber, Kennedy Stanford and Naeemah Weathers growing up together as incoming freshmen volleyball players. Amid a worldwide pandemic – don’t forget that fact – as part of a group of seven newcomers to a Colorado State program steeped in tradition, led by a legendary coach.
Also, a volleyball team which was going to have to restructure due to the loss of six formidable impact players.
The Baby Rams had no idea.
That’s what they called themselves. In a group chat which is still very active.
“That’s a great question; I don’t know who made that name. We made that chat in 2019 before we got here,” Weathers said. “There were all of these 17-, 18-year olds in the chat called Baby Rams.”
Seven deep is now three strong. Two of them – Barrett Power (South Dakota) and Alyssa Groves (South Dakota State) are still playing. So is Ruby Kayser, just not indoor, but beach at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The final member of the group, Helena Perez, stopped after four seasons, the final one at Cal Poly.
Five of them will take part in the NCAA Tournament, which begins for Colorado State with a Friday match against Texas A&M, a sixth seed out of the SEC in a pod hosted by third-seeded Arizona State. The Rams and Aggies will play at 4:30 p.m. (MT) that day at Desert Financial Arena, with the Sun Devils facing New Hampshire. The two winners will play Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.
This is the point they always expected to reach. It’s the final piece to their five-year puzzle, the trip they just missed the season prior when Colorado State fell in five sets to Fresno State. But each step was important, all the setbacks and victories culminating in a moment of instant realization when they finished off the win over San Jose State for the Mountain West championship this past Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev.
“It took about two seconds. There are pictures of the three of us, before we went to the high-five line, jumping up and down and holding onto each other,” Stanford said. “I think it was really special that all the Baby Rams, all the seven we came in with, all those who chose to take their fifth year and are still playing indoor volleyball made it to the tournament this year. For us, to the two in South Dakota, it felt really good all the Baby Rams have grown into great senior players.”
Their story definitely starts with a bunch of “remember when’s,” moments time and people have put in the back of their minds.
Their first season was actually 2021, as the fall campaign was masked up and shut down. That first season was limited to conference-only matches, played in empty arenas. Moby Madness was a ghost town. Add it all together, it was a bit eerie.
“I was nervous. I was shaking. I don’t know why,” Leber said. “A few games in, I was like, ‘oh, this is fine.’ But the jitters, even playing on the Moby Court without fans, knowing the history of our program and how well we’ve done, it was a lot of pressure. We got used to it.
“We didn’t know anything different coming into our freshman year. We didn’t have an idea of what it should have been, so we made the best of it and found ways to hang out with our teammates which were covid friendly. We made it work. We adapted pretty well to it.”
Covid-friendly didn’t always work. Weathers spent 35 days in quarantine as a 17-year old freshman during summer workouts, most of which she missed. All three of them spent some time in isolation, most often for precautionary reasons.
Then there was the pressure, which took time to come into full view. The 2019 team went to the NCAA Tournament, marking a 25th consecutive trip. This season is the first sense.
“We had a lot more going on. I think the worldwide pandemic kind of overshadowed a little bit of the volleyball piece, but we for sure felt the pressure of coming in and fill some pretty big shoes,” Weathers said. “As we’ve grown as people, players, captains and leaders, I think we’ve cemented ourselves as these shoes were hard to fill, but we did it and did it well.”
Obviously, the wins and being on the court and jumping up and down in confetti is quite memorable, but I think the time we spent together outside of volleyball and the laughs we shared are the best moments in my life.Karina Leber
They have all left a mark on the program. Among them, there are five All-Mountain honors, and each of them is in the record book.
Stanford’s 1,349 career kills rank 10th all-time, second in the modern-scoring area, while her 107 aces tops the modern list. Leber ranks fifth in kills in the modern era, eighth all-time in career blocks with 445. Weathers, all-conference the past three years, will leave as the career leader in hitting percentage and is on pace do so as the only Ram to eclipse .400.
Second-year coach Emily Kohan, an assistant who helped bring them here and who was another part of the transitions they faced when she replaced Hilbert, will miss all of that production. What she’ll miss more is the young women.
“You couldn’t ask for better people. Karina is going to dental school, Kennedy is finishing her master’s degree, and Nemo is finishing hers,” Kohan said. “In terms of all the role-model aspects you want from young kids – they’re great athletes, they’re captains and great students -- they have lived the core values of our program for all five years, and they’ve been really loyal in the process.
“They’ve come a long way. You can look physically how far they’ve come and statistically how far they’ve come. You’re in a covid year and you’re a scared little freshman and they’ve grown confidently in the way they walked out on that court, the way they present themselves in the community and their public speaking skills.”
That final fact amazes them all. None of them liked doing it, now they’re all comfortable in the situation, with Weathers developing into a speaker who can mesmerize a large gathering.
As proud as they are of their accomplishments on the court, it’s the bond they’ve created they will rely on well into the future. They see themselves for who they’ve become, but also who they were, which is the best part.
The growth.
Leber can still see a shier version of Stanford yet is amazed at the professional she’s become with her academic pursuits and admires her leadership as a captain. Stanford admires the way Weathers impacts people in a positive way, feeling s should emulate the behavior. Weathers has watched Leber go from quiet to bubbly and outgoing, a natural comedian.
What she really sees when she looks at them are two of her best friends. NCAA Tournament or not, that wouldn’t change, which is why the five years was special regardless.
“For me, it’s being able to turn around and go down the hall, go down to the kitchen and see two of my closest friends, people who have seen me grow,” she said. “I'm really going to miss that a lot. I think being able to say these are some of my closest friends and the people I’m going to take with me into my life, in my career and beyond, I’m going to miss it a ton. Who knows what we’re going to be doing in two or three years.”
They do know what the next few days will hold, which is getting prepped for Texas A&M. They do love the volleyball part, and they are definitely happy to be part of the tournament, so much so the Rams intend to stick around for as long as they can.
The goal has been met, but having never been a part of the tournament, they look forward absorbing all they expect and that which they can’t imagine will be part of the experience. Somewhat similar to where they started.
As well as what they’re leaving behind.
“I think there were huge shoes to fill. That 2019 class, they rewrote the record books before we got here,” Stanford said. “Each of us had a player we looked up to on that team. To then turn around and say at the end of our careers we were able to forge a path for ourselves and help with the changing of the tide with Emily and starting a new era, being a part of what is that culture, I think that is something we’ll all be proud of, what we left.”
Leber hopes some of what they’ve been doing will live beyond them. The pre-match dance circle in the locker room. The way they stand on the court in a circle, arms extended, pinkies linked. She also thinks in some ways entering during a pandemic wasn’t all bad. Those first-match nerves she felt, add 8,000 fans for a season-opening White Out and the future dentist isn’t sure she wouldn’t have felt a full-on coronary event.
All the other parts, in all honesty, that’s very much the good stuff.
“The time we spent together. Obviously, the wins and being on the court and jumping up and down in confetti is quite memorable, but I think the time we spent together outside of volleyball and the laughs we shared are the best moments in my life,” Leber said. “It’s simple, stupid things we laugh at that bring me so much joy, that’s the biggest part I’ll remember from any season.”
It’s mostly the people with whom they shared those events. When they come to mind, there’s always the chat. They may have grown up, even separated a bit, but they are positive the Baby Rams will always be tied together.
“I fear Baby Rams is something we’re stuck with for life now,” Weathers said, laughing. “The group chat was even active with all of us in it a week ago. We all stay in contact with each other.”
Even with so much more in front of them, they fully understand the impact of being able to remember when. Those moments helped define who they were and who they would become, with a huge nod to those who helped shape them.
Looking back is what makes the now very much worth the journey the trio have taken together.
Support Colorado State Athletics: Tickets | Ram Club | Green And Gold Guard