Box Score GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The No. 20 Colorado Mesa University volleyball teams hopes of staying atop the RMAC conference standings came to heartbreaking halt when they lost in five sets tonight (Sept. 25) to MSU Denver. After losing the first two sets of the match, the Mavericks fought back to win two straight to force a fifth and final set where they would lose in a back-and-forth affair.

In the first set of the match, the Mavericks would fall behind early and struggle the entire set to keep up with the Roadrunners. After trailing 20-10 at one point, Colorado Mesa rallied to bring the score to 23-29 before the Roadrunners would put them away with a final score of 25-19. 

Audrey Steinkirchner was the only Maverick to record a hit percentage in the set when she hit .222 and had four points. Erin Perez and Melissa Hess had 2.5 and 1.5 points respectively. Kricket Adleman had seven digs, and Jodryn Moody was held to just six assists. 

As a team the Mavericks only hit .032 in the set while the Roadrunners hit .233. Perez and Steinkirchner each had solo blocks and Perez and Hess combined for the third block.

The Mavericks picked up their play in the second set of the match. It was a much tighter set with the two teams even at 15. The back and forth play would continue until MSU-Denver took a 19-20 lead. The Roadrunners would never look back after that and beat the Mavericks 25-21.

After faltering in the first two sets of the match, the Mavericks needed a major comeback.  Colorado Mesa would come out of the blocks strong taking a 19-13 lead. The Mavericks would take control of the set eventually winning 25-20.

Coming off the momentum from winning the third set, the Mavs still needed to win the set to force a fifth and decisive set. The Roadrunners took the first point of the set and led for the majority of the set. The Mavericks showed some grit and fight when they tied it up at 19-19 and took over after that to win the fourth set 25-22.
With the hard fought comeback, the Mavericks were able to force a fifth game. The Mavericks however were unable to sustain the energy and play they had in the last two sets falling 15-13.

The Mavericks were held to a hit percentage of .206 while the Roadrunners hit .235 on the night. Melissa Hess led the way hitting .354. Casey Ball and Abby Ney were just behind her hitting .300 and .294. Jordyn Moody had 49 assists. Kricket Adleman, Erin Perez, and Tiffany Peterson each recorded double digit digs with 17, 15, and 13.

The No.20 ranked Mavericks fall to 9-3 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. They will play at No. 12 Colorado School of Mines on Friday (Sept. 26) at 7 pm.