Revenge was served loud, fast, and in a sea of white at Moby Arena in Fort Collins on Friday evening.
Less than 24 hours after suffering a tough 3-1 road loss to their in-state rivals in Boulder, the unranked Colorado State Rams completely flipped the script. Fueled by a white-out home crowd of 8,083 fans, CSU swept the No. 17-ranked Colorado Buffaloes, winning in straight sets (25-21, 25-23, 25-15).
The victory allowed the Rams to successfully retain the coveted Golden Spike trophy, capping off an intense home-and-home midweek showdown between the two programs.
Turning the Page From Boulder
The dramatic turnaround came swiftly after CU’s victory on Thursday at the CU Events Center. In that opening clash, the Buffaloes leaned on a stellar 22-kill performance from senior Ana Burilovic to hold off a late Rams charge and secure a 3-1 win (25-23, 27-25, 22-25, 25-21), handing CSU an early-season setback and halting a three-match losing skid against their rivals.
With the Buffs marching into Fort Collins boasting a pristine 9-0 record and riding high on national momentum, head coach Emily Kohan’s Rams knew adjustments were vital.
“We took what we had yesterday, and just said if we’re going to have a double block in front of us, we got to try and use that regardless,” said CSU’s Kekua Richards.
A Masterclass at Moby Arena
The adjustments paid immediate dividends on Friday night. Colorado State’s defense put on a smothering display at the net, neutralizing CU’s high-powered attack and forcing the Buffaloes into a meager .083 hitting percentage compared to CSU’s crisp .256.
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Defensive Lockdown: Led by the formidable blocking and net defense of Kekua Richards and Eve Wilson, the Rams bottled up Burilovic, limiting her to 14 kills—eight fewer than her output the previous evening.
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Balanced Offense: Setter Erin Debiec orchestrated a brilliant, multi-faceted attack, distributing the ball smoothly to keep CU’s block-heavy defense off balance.
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Back-Row Energy: Libero Karsyn Fetzer anchored a relentless back-row defense that kept plays alive and fueled transition opportunities.
After taking tightly contested battles in the first two sets (25-21, 25-23), the Rams turned a competitive night into a rout in the third. Fueled by a deafening home crowd, CSU raced away to a 25-15 final-set punctuation mark, sealing the sweep and sending the student section into a frenzy.
Looking Ahead
With the split, Colorado State improves to 7-3 on the young season and keeps the historic rivalry trophy right where it wants it: in Fort Collins. The Rams play their first-ever Pac-12 match this coming Thursday at Moby Arena against San Diego State at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, Colorado suffers its first blemish of a stellar start, dropping to 9-1. The Buffs return to the CU Events Center in Boulder to open Big 12 conference play against Utah on Friday at 7 p.m.
- 2019 (Inaugural Year): CSU won both matches to claim the first trophy (CSU def. CU 3-2 and 3-0).
- 2020: Not played (Canceled due to COVID-19).
- 2021: CU won the series and the Golden Spike. (CU def. CSU 3-1 on Sept. 16; CU def. CSU 3-0 on Sept. 18).
- 2022: CU won a dramatic reverse-sweep thriller to claim the trophy (CSU won match one 3-1; CU won match two 3-2 via a 21-25, 10-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-8 comeback).
2023: CU secured the trophy via another reverse sweep on the road in five sets (17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 28-26, 15-13) after losing the night before in five sets (25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 24-26, 13-15). - 2024: CSU captured the Golden Spike for the first time since 2019, splitting the two-day series (CU won 3-1 initially, but CSU bounced back to win 3-1, taking the trophy on the final-game tiebreaker).
- 2025: CSU swept the home-and-home series from CU (winning 3-0 in Fort Collins on Sept. 18 and 3-1 in Boulder on Sept. 19) to retain the trophy.
- 2026: After CU wins 3-1 in Boulder on September 17, CSU retains the Golden Spike with a 3-0 win the next night before a sold-out crowd of 8,038 at Moby Arena.
