The Long Way Home
A final season which brings Riley Simpson full circle
Liv Sewell
Life has a funny way of ending up where you never expected.
Sometimes it winds through the shadows before finding the light again. Patiently waiting in the wings while sitting in rehab gyms or peeking through rivalries which blur into rediscovery. For Riley Simpson, the path has never been a straight line.
In her final year of eligibility, the graduate student transferred to Colorado State. This season meant many things: an end of an era, a new beginning—perhaps a challenge.
That reality was hardly new. After all, she grew up as the youngest in a family where the game was practically a second language. Coming from Colorado Springs, the Simpson household was a constant echo of bump–set–spike. Her three older sisters—Taylor, Cierra and Gabby—paved their way into collegiate play long before the youngest sister donned green and gold.
“Growing up, our household was just volleyball all the time,” Gabby Simpson said. “Riley was so much younger because she's seven years younger than me. And there were instances where us older girls would be in the hallway of our house just peppering. But it would have been just us older girls, not Riley because she was too young.”
But for them, it was black instead of green.
All three of Riley’s sisters played for Colorado. The Simpson name became familiar in Boulder long before Riley made her mark in Fort Collins. In fact, all three sisters were on the roster when the CSU–CU rivalry reached a national stage in 2014.
A framed photo from that NCAA Tournament still hangs in the CSU volleyball offices: Gabby on the other side of the net in Moby Arena, a frozen moment of rivalry now embossed in glass.
Riley walks by it regularly.
“It is definitely strange for sure,” Riley said. “There's this kind of house divided situation but it's kind of funny that I ended up back here. All my sisters played at CU but it's a cool thing and I'm happy about it. They’ve influenced my volleyball career a lot. They're honestly my biggest inspiration, my sisters and my parents.”
Her journey could have followed theirs. It even nearly did—Gabby originally committed to CSU before flipping to Colorado, a turn that now makes Riley’s place at CSU feel strangely meant to be.
It’s easier to see the forest when you’re not in the trees. It’s like watching film, but not on yourself. It was a great opportunity just to learn.Riley Simpson
As the youngest of the four, however, she carved her own path. Spending the better part of her college career in the south at Baylor and the west at Pepperdine. She eventually came back home because of something far more personal than volleyball.
“So it actually started when my mom was experiencing some health issues at the beginning of this year,” Riley said. “I just wanted to be closer to family and also, I've known Emily and the coaching staff here for a really long time. It's just a great program so I just wanted to come home and play for the Rams.”
But sometimes the path is riddled with bumps.
Soon into the season, an injury sidelined her for seven months, turning the homecoming she pictured into something slower, quieter and far less certain.
Every day became narrow—one rehab exercise, one restriction, one reminder that things are different than they used to be. But from the outside, her coaches and teammates saw something different.
“Her medical condition was a huge curveball,” coach Emily Kohan said. “But I thought she did an excellent job still being engaged as a leader and a teammate. She always came in with a pretty peppy personality and looked for ways to live the core values outside of just playing.”
Perspective became her anchor.
“It's easier to see the forest when you're not in the trees," Riley said. “It's like watching film, but not on yourself. It was a great opportunity just to learn.”
In this way sitting and waiting was never going to cut it, it was important to take her recovery into her own hands.
One of her closest friends on the team, Aine Doty, noticed it too.
“I think when a teammate is injured, it's easy to feel almost left out because you're not on the court playing all the time,” Doty said. “Riley's one of my best friends. And she also gave a lot to the team when she was off. She would just cheer for her teammates and include herself and continue to give advice.”
In the slowing down and the forced distance, something shifted. The view widened. She learned how to invest in a team without touching the court.
When she returned, she came with a steadiness that allowed her to slip into whatever role CSU needed, whether or not it was her preferred position.
After missing the first 17 matches of the season, Simpson was cleared to play. The only complication in a set lineup was where. Naturally an outide hitter, she filled a role on the opposite pin.
“I think anybody on a team that says, ‘Hey, it's whatever the team needs and I'll figure it out,’ is a great dynamic to have,” Kohan said. “It’s what a coach dreams of, to have anybody on the team say they’re willing to do any given position and make it work.”
She started to find a groove. Three matches into her run, she produced 11 kills in a win over Air Force. She had back-to-back double-digit outings, starting with a season-best 15 against San Jose State. All felt right.
Then came the hardest twist: another injury right before senior day. This time, there would be no comeback.
Riley likes to dwell on the things she can change, however.
“Life goes on,” she said. “That’s kind of what’s been helping me. The sun is going to come up tomorrow. I know it’s really sad and hard for me to embrace the fact that my career is probably over. But I want to continue to support my teammates and maybe we can win a Mountain West Championship.”
Despite the pothole, her mindset remains unchanged. Quiet, selfless, steady, it’s what makes her final season feel so full-circle. After spending years far from home, her journey has narrowed back to where it started: Colorado.
This end game became something neither she nor the staff could have expected.
“Here she is at Colorado State,” Kohan said. “That whole family's wearing green, which is really fun, and she’s their baby. They'll cheer for whatever team she's on, but I'm really excited that we see the whole Simpson clan in green.”
This season’s finish is more than a symbolic shift in colors. It’s the endpoint of a stretch whichtook her across conference borders and through two programs before playing 10 games for the Rams.
Only in hindsight does the sequence make sense: each stop, each delay, pushing her to where she is now.
“It’s been a journey honestly,” Riley said. “I’m just so thankful for all the community support I’ve had here. Emily has been really supportive of my dreams outside of volleyball and so has the rest of the team.”
She is now applying to law schools, hoping to further her professional career and make a difference outside of the hardwood.
Her sisters, for one, know what the end of this season means. They’ve already experienced their own conclusions.
“Enjoy the memories while you can,” Gabby said. “It’s so sad that it'll be done in a few short months. And her life is going to change drastically after this.”
Step far enough back, the whole forest becomes clearer. Injuries become steppingstones to something greater and the games she played for the Rams become yet another part of her journey.
And when her family’s in the wings on senior day waiting to walk her to center court, she knows the green shirts will come out and the pride will beam on their faces.
Because yes, she’s a Ram, but she’ll always be a Simpson.
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