Rams Stand Tall Against Ranked Team

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
SMU	25	19	25	27	3
Colorado St.	20	25	23	25	1

No opening weekend will ever tell he whole story of a season. Too much unknown stands in front a team, but it can help chart the path for a volleyball team.

Colorado State's first two opponents allow Emily Kohan's squad to read the tea leaves of the results with confidence. Friday opened with a win against a UC Davis team which is expected to stack up well in its first year of a conference the Rams traditionally dominated. Saturday's loss at Moby Arena at the hands of No. 11 SMU (25-20, 19-25, 25-23, ) will allow for equal parts reflection and reassurance.

In the loss, the Rams proved they won't be pushed around, unless it's by each other, which they will often do after winning points. They saw clearly why the Mustangs are ranked – athletic, powerful, sharp on defense and tough at the service line.

SMU, like Colorado State, had won its opener. Unlike the Rams, the Mustangs beat a top-10 team in Texas A&M, also the defending national champs. They then played in a made-for-TV exhibition on Thursday at AT&T Stadium, a best-of-three affair played to 21. There, they beat No. 10 Penn State in two, fell to No. 1 Nebraska in two. They had been tested.

The Rams knew all that. Now they know more about themselves.

"I know that we can handle big moments, like we found a way to fight our way back from deficits, and we went to end game with them, and we still went out taking big swings," CSU setter Erin Debiec said. "I've learned that we can do it; we can be in there with the best in the country.

"I believe in this team."

There were adjustments to be made after a rocky start to the night, especially with the way SMU defends and attacks. They get to balls, so it's hard to be terminal. The Mustangs are powerful and will employ vertical and quick attacks.

CSU coach Emily Kohan watched as her team settled in defensively. By the end of the night,
Colorado State had produced nine blocks and 55 digs as the guests hit just .229.

Karsyn Fetzer was playing in the libero jersey for just the second time in her career, performing as a defensive specialist as a freshman in 2025, that following a high school career at Platte Valley where she was a potent attacker. She closed with 16 digs – just one off her career best – adding three aces. In her mind, the entire defense learned a lot from facing such a varied attack.

It also doesn't change her outlook on what the Rams can become.

"Being the best defensive team in the country, I think, and I think we can definitely do it. We're so good and we just fly around and dig and get everything up," she said. "I think it's crazy. This team just works so hard and we all work so hard on the backcourt.

"I think we have a lot to learn, obviously, but that is such a good team and we learned so much from just playing them. I think we just threw our bodies out there tonight, gave it our all, and we're going to go in and work even harder and still become better at defense."

Suli Davis, an All-Big 12 transfer from BYU, led the Mustangs with 22 kills, hitting .314 on 51 swings. SMU relied on her greatly for big points, with fellow pin Levariya Pinder closing with nine kills. The Mustangs had to make an adjustment of their own early when starter Christa Wilburn came down awkwardly in the second set, leaving the floor with her four early kills and never returning.

Colorado State took a much different approach, with Kohan crediting the mind of setter Debiec guiding a rather balanced distribution.

"And she's getting better at this, too. She's got to get to know those newbies," Kohan said. "How much can she feed Sophie (Stephenson) and Ella (Stowell)?

"She's got a great tally in her head of who's hot and who's not and how to get everyone involved. And not only is she keeping that tally, but she's serving very accurate balls. And so, yeah, this is a very even box score, and there's some really nice numbers from some of those kids."

There was a 21-attack dropoff between SMU's top two hitters. For the Rams, Debiec moved the ball around between six hitters, Halle Jameson being fed 33 times at the top, Kekua Richards 19 times at the bottom. That accounted for Stowell starting and then Maria Brun replacing her for two sets.

Jameson, on the outside, finished with 13 kills. Eve Wilson, a middle, also had 13 on 29 attacks. Debiec responded with a knowing smile with all six hitters finishing with at least six kills.

"There's just so many options that I have at all times, and sometimes one hitter will get hot over another, but there's always someone ready to swing," Debiec said, finishing with 44 assists and 13 digs for a double-double. "I just give them the ball and they do the work.

"I think it's definitely challenging to defend against. The blockers gotta look at three or four different, even five different options at all times, and I think it puts them in a difficult position, so, take advantage of that."

The finals two sets were tight, with the Mustangs able to play a bit better at end game, giving Kohan and her staff some target areas for practice. The Rams proved they can make immediate adjustments, serving much better in the match than the night before.

If the opening weekend proves anything, Kohan isn't afraid to make changes. The Rams have had two different starters at the right pin. Brun, an all-conference attacker, played defense the first night then came in and aided an offense when Stowell struggled a bit. Then Stowell came in and got hot in the final set.

It's a team she feels is versatile, allowing her to play matchups in the Rams' favor. She also knows every player has to accept a given role on a given night and put the team first.

Again, she has validation. Also some actual match statistics and film.

"There's kind of a little bit of a pin roulette going on as we try to figure out each of them have different gifts. Maria's an incredible passer, and Zab (Sofia Zabjek) is really big and physical," Kohan said. "Ella's just really steady at everything. So on any given night, we're trying to piece it together, and that's what non-conference is for. We're trying a few different things, and I hope in the next couple weeks we have some more data points to settle on maybe what the best lineup is. For the newbies, I don't know them yet. So I'm trying to get to know them in these game situations and what they can do.

"They've all been great teammates with each other. Not one as one of them when we've asked them to serve, be on the bench or in a different role had anything but a great attitude towards their teammate that's in that spot. And so we have some great team chemistry and culture of just supporting whatever the decision is in that moment."

No, an opening weekend can't determine an entire season. Viewed correctly, however, it can validate a belief when actual results are applied to the equation. The Rams walked off the court bolstered in their belief of their pre-weekend stance.

They believe they are good. They also believe they'll get better.

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Players Mentioned

Maria Brun

Erin Debiec

Karsyn Fetzer

Halle Jameson

Kekua Richards

Eve Wilson

Sofia Zabjek

Team Stats

Wilson Eve

Jameson Halle

Stowell Ella

Richards Kekua