Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
5-4,0-0Mountain West
Colorado
9-1,0-0Big 12
Rams Ride the Wave
9/18/2025 8:55:00 PM | Volleyball
CSU sweeps Colorado in Golden Spike showdown
There's something to be said about momentum.
When Colorado stumbled early in the first set, Colorado State wasted no time seizing the moment. Every player locked in, and every rally sharpened. By the end, the Golden Spike was waiting on the sideline, and the Rams had swept their rivals 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17).
We were all talking about the trophy, Kekua Richards said. We just wanted to make a statement that we're going to keep it.
That statement was bigger than a sweep. For CSU, it was about how the team responded after a disappointing loss to Notre Dame the week before. Instead of carrying frustration into the rivalry, they reframed it as motivation, setting small goals that would build power long before the first serve.
Which meant focusing on details – warming up with urgency, keeping the bench engaged and trusting that those habits would spill over once the match began.
We wanted to win the warm-up, we wanted to win the bench game and we wanted to win the real game, coach Emily Kohan said. I think we did all three of those. And then, the energy of the fans is just electric in Moby.
The energy evolved beyond noise; it became a pulse which matched the Rams' rhythm. Each set swelled louder, and the rivalry seemed to fuel both crowd and players equally.
For freshmen, the environment could have felt suffocating. Yet momentum has a way of lightening the pressure, especially when teammates shoulder it together. CSU leaned on that connection, with every new rally sharpening the edges of their confidence.
I was definitely able to rely on my teammates for the whole game, freshman setter Erin Debiec said. We knew coming into this it would be tough and we would have to stick together, so, having them as a support system really eased the pressure.
Debiec was modest, but her impact rippled through the match. She set the tone for the offense with 36 assists, added seven digs on defense and kept the pace steady when the atmosphere threatened to speed things up.
Richards, meanwhile, shifted the match with her presence at the net, blocking seven attacks in just three sets. It was the kind of performance that not only anchored the defense but also swung the upper-hand back toward CSU every time Colorado tried to break through.
I think it's super cool, Richards said. I know my previous blockers, Naeemah (Weathers) and Karina (Leber), are probably super proud of me right now. It's super awesome to have that moment.
Balance, though, may be what separates this Rams team from those of recent years. Offensively, CSU had weapons across the court, from Brenna Rowland hitting eight kills at a .467 clip to freshman Halle Jameson matching her with eight of her own.
No one player had to carry the load, which meant no dip in dominance when the ball shifted to a different rotation. Instead, CSU kept rolling, each attack another push in the same direction.
I just think this is one of the most balanced offenses we've seen probably since 2019, Kohan said. And so, when you look at this and you have everybody within eight sets of each other, there wasn't one person that had to carry the whole match. That's what makes it hard to defend too.
A balance which translates to depth, and depth which translates into a force which extends beyond one night. As conference play looms, CSU is beginning to look less like a team searching for its identity and more like one building steady steam.
Against Colorado, the Rams proved how quickly momentum can shift – and how powerful it can be once it's in their hands.
We put in a lot of work this week coming from Notre Dame and we've been working hard, Richards said. Every single day at practice we're super excited. So, it was good to see everybody put on the gas the whole time, especially with CU. They're very talented so you have to be at your 100 all the time.
This was just the first game, however, and the drive must be carried all the way to Boulder on Saturday in order to bring the Spike back home.
Starting the series in Moby was just a plus.
It is incredibly hard in this back-to-back games, no matter who you're playing, Kohan said. They're going to be on their home court but there's nothing quite like Moby magic. When you go playing Coors, it doesn't quite have the same feeling or fandom, but it's their home court so I'm sure they are going to show up and be a different team.
But if Moby was a spark, Boulder will be the test. Rivalries aren't won on one night—they're claimed by sustaining the fire when the crowd isn't behind you, when the calls don't go your way, when the streak threatens to break. CSU has shown it can seize the moment. Now the question is whether it can carry that moment forward, turn one sweep into two wins, and keep the Golden Spike where it has been for a year.
Momentum is fleeting, so hold on to it. It just might be the start of something amazing.
