Box Score Grand Junction, Colo. The No. 14 Colorado Mesa University volleyball team won its ninth straight tonight (Oct. 11) when they took down South Dakota School of Mines 3-1 at Brownson Arena in a non conference match up.

For just the third time at home, the Mavs dropped a set when the Hardrockers topped CMU 25-19 to open the night. Colorado Mesa struggled early and could never get on track. The scoring would go back and forth until midway through the set when South Dakota School of Mines took an 11-10 lead.  The Hardrockers took off from there and won 25-19.  No Mav recorded more than two kills in the set with Jordyn Moody and Melissa Hess hitting .667 with two kills apiece.

The second set started out much like the first with the scoring bouncing back and forth most of the game. A kill by Casey Ball would break a 14-14 tie and CMU would go on an 8-1 run to lead 22-15.  With Colorado Mesa at game point, the Hardrockers would show some fight to bring them within two before a South Dakota School of Mines error would give the Mavs the 25-22 victory.

With the teams split at a win each, this third set would be vital for both teams. Much like the last two games it was a fight to the finish. The teams again would find themselves at a 14-14 tie before Abby Ney would give Colorado Mesa the advantage. With CMU up 20-18, they would take the next five points to win the set 25-18 and take a 2-1 set lead. Melissa Hess hit .714 with five kills. Audrey Steinkirchner was a perfect a 4-4 on kills. Tiffany Petersen had eight digs, while Jordyn Moody recorded 13 assists.

Needing won more set victory to end the night for Colorado Mesa, South Dakota School of Mines jumped out to the early 9-5 advantage. The Mavericks would find themselves trailing the majority of the match before rallying to tie the score at 17. CMU would go on to take the game and match thanks to a blast by Christian Otzen to give Colorado Mesa the 25-18 win.

Jordyn Moody finished the night with a double-double as she had 44 assists and 11 digs. Melissa Hess hit .429 with a team high 15 kills. Casey Ball wasn't too far behind with 11 kills.

Tiffany Petersen had a solid night with her 25 kills. Christian Otzen and Kricket Adleman also had good nights on defense with 12 and 10 digs respectively.

The Mavericks will finish up their regular season home matches this weekend with CSU-Pueblo on Friday (Oct. 24) at 7 pm and Western State Colorado on Saturday (Oct. 25) and 5 pm. Their match against Western State Colorado will also be senior day for the volleyball team as they honor Jordyn Moody, Melissa Hess, Casey Ball, Leandra Gilbert and Tiffany Petersen.