The current head volleyball coach at the University of Colorado, Jesse Mahoney, has deep ties with the state of Colorado. He is a Boulder native, he earned both a Bachelor’s Degree and a Law Degree from CU, and has coached volleyball at Colorado Christian, Colorado State, the University of Denver, and is now in his 10th season with the Buffs.
With his extensive experience in the state perhaps it is no surprise that he understood the significance of what happened in northern Colorado on August 15, 1870 at 2:53 p.m. It was at that moment that the first railroad that actually connected the Atlantic to the Pacific was completed, and it occurred just east of Strasburg, Colorado.
In 2019 Mahoney pitched an idea to former Colorado State head volleyball coach Tom Hilbert, who had Mahoney on staff as an assistant and associate head coach for seven seasons. The two schools compete for the Centennial Cup in football, so why not have something similar for volleyball. Because the term spike is synonymous with volleyball, and the final railroad spike in the transcontinental rail was housed in the Comanche Crossing Museum, the idea was hatched to award the winning team The Golden Spike as a traveling trophy.
The Rams won the trophy the first year after winning both matches against CU that year. The teams did not meet in 2020 due to COVID, so the Golden Spike took up residence in Fort Collins for an extra year. In 2021 the Buffs won both matches and claimed the trophy for the first time, and while the schools split their meetings in 2022 and 2023, CU won the final meeting both times and thus retained possession of the Spike. Last year the teams again split but the Rams won the second meeting.
The location of the Golden Spike for the next year will be determined this week, as the Rams host the Buffs on Thursday, September 18 and then the next night CU plays host to CSU. Since the start of the 2019 season, when this tradition began, each team has won five of the 10 matches against its in-state rival. This year Colorado brings in a 9-0 record and is on the verge of being ranked for the first time since October 2021 as they are currently 30th in the latest poll. READ MORE
The Buffs, who are 27-3 in sets this season, are led by Ana Burilović, a 6’1” junior from Croatia, and Sydney Jordan, a 6’3 junior from Texas. CSU (4-4) has a young, and tall, trio of players leading the team in points. Eve Wilson, a 6’4” junior from Utah, Maria Brun, a 6’1” sophomore from Spain, and Kekua Richards, a 6’7” sophomore from Hawai’i, are pacing the team.
While the Buffs are striving to be in the top 25, three other universities in the state are already there, as MSU Denver (fourth, 7-1) and Colorado Mesa (23rd, 4-3) are ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s NCAA Division II polls, with Colorado Mines (31st, 7-1) receiving votes. In the junior college polls, Northeastern (13-3) of Sterling is ranked fifth.
