GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After claiming two 4-set road wins at CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands on what was their longest Rocky Mountain Athletic road trip of the season last weekend, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks face perhaps their most challenging and important weekend of the season, at least to this point, this weekend.  The Mavericks, who sport 12-4 overall and 6-2 RMAC records, will play at Colorado Christian University on Friday at 7 p.m. in Lakewood and at the 22^nd-ranked Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at 5 p.m in Golden.
 
Home playoff status on the line?
 
The Mavericks currently stand in a fifth place tie in the top-heavy RMAC standings with UCCS and would be on the road for the quarterfinal round of the RMAC Tournament if it were to start today.  However, this  weekend's matches come against two teams above them in the conference standings, which means they have a chance to move up and earn some possibly all-important head-to-head tiebreaking wins.  The top four RMAC teams at the end of the 18-match conference schedule will host quarterfinals against the 5^th-8^th ranked teams.  Colorado Christian is just one match ahead of the Mavericks and tied for third in the conference standings with MSU-Denver while Mines is two matches ahead and tied for the lead with Regis.  Four teams are tied for seventh, three matches behind the Mavericks at 3-5.
 
2-time Setter of the Week
 
Maverick sophomore Samantha Ritter was named as the RMAC's Setter of the Week on Monday, her second such award of the season.  Ritter recorded 94 assists (11.75/set), 36 digs (4.50/set) and a pair of double-doubles in the Mavericks' 4-set road wins at CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands last weekend.
 
Ritter, a native of Tinley Park, Ill., had also earned the award for the first week of the season back on Sept. 4.  She has recorded 650 assists and ranks fifth in the RMAC for her 10.66-per set average.  She also is second on the CMU squad with 173 digs and leads the team with eight double-doubles, recording on in each of the Mavericks' last five matches, a stretch that has seen CMU go 4-1.
 
RMAC leader returns home
 
Junior outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards continues to lead the RMAC in both total kills (250) and kills per set (4.10).  She tallied 15 at CSU-Pueblo and 11 at New Mexico Highlands, recording double-doubles in both matches as well.  Edwards, who was the previous week's RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, now ranks 21^st in the NCAA Division II national statistics for kills per set and 34^th in total kills.  She will be playing in her hometown of Lakewood on Friday for the first time in her career after the Mavericks have hosted Colorado Christian in each of the past two years of Edwards' stint with the Mavericks.
 
Bench spark
 
Receiving her first extended playing time of the season, CMU redshirt freshman Hailey Crane provided a key spark off the bench in Saturday's 4-set win at New Mexico Highlands.  The Bothell, Wash., product had only seen limited action in six of the Mavericks' first 15 matches recording five total kills while never appearing in more than one set.  However, on Saturday, she entered the match late in the first set and tallied two digs in the rest of that set.  She then started the second, third and fourth sets.  The Mavericks won all three as Crane finished the night in double-figures with 10 kills and three digs in the Mavericks' come-from-behind win over the Cowgirls.
 
Rising in the middle
 
Junior middle blocker Natalee Todd had a solid weekend tallying 14 kills in Friday's win at CSU-Pueblo before registering a match and career-high 16 against New Mexico Highlands.  She also had a career-high six blocks against the Cowgirls.  Todd, a native of Bismarck, N.D., has been in double-figures and has surpassed her career-high for kills in each of the Mavericks' last four matches recording 54 in that stretch with totals of 11 and 13 in the previous two matches.  She has hit at a combined .323 clip in the 4-match stretch and has tallied 13 blocks in that time.
 
Road warriors
 
Heading into this weekend's matches, the Mavericks are a perfect 4-0 in away matches this season winning at Lubbock Christian, Westminster, CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands.  They also have won seven straight matches away from Brownson Arena including neutral-court victories over Eastern New Mexico, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Texas Woman's at the Lubbock Christian Chap Classic on Sept. 7 and 8.  Overall, the Mavericks are 9-2 away from home this year.
 
Familiar location
 
Although Saturday's match-up against the Colorado School of Mines will be their first and only head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Mavericks are no strangers to Golden or Lockridge Arena.  They have already played four matches there this season, going 2-2 at the Oredigger Classic to start this season.  The Mavericks also went 2-2 in the 2016 edition of that season-opening tournament and played two matches there in 2015, winning a RMAC Tournament semifinal over MSU Denver before bowing out in the championship match to the Orediggers.
 
Scouting the Cougars
 
The Colorado Christian University Cougars enter Friday's match with a 10-7 overall mark but stand one match ahead of the Mavericks with a 7-1 conference record, tied for third in the RMAC.  They have won six straight matches and eight of their last nine.  They have played just twice at home, winning both.
 
The Cougars lead the RMAC in both total digs (1163) and digs per set (17.62) and also sport a potent offensive attack.  They stand second behind Colorado Mines in both kills (13.79) and assists (13.03) per set and are fourth in the RMAC in hitting percentage at .220.
 
They have at least one individual ranked amongst the RMAC's top 10 in all six major statistical categories with junior setter Kylee Wurster leading the way.  She is ranked second for assists per set (11.53) and is tied for seventh for service aces per set (0.33).  Sophia Proano, who is fifth in kills per set (3.65) and Hope Baldrica, sixth in blocks per set (1.02), are ninth and 10^th in hitting percentage with their .319 hitting percentages, separated by just thousandths of a point.   Proano was named as the RMAC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Wurster was tabbed as the Preseason Setter of the Year by the conference's head coaches.
 
Scouting the Orediggers
 
The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers enter this weekend with a 14-3 overall record and are tied for first place in the RMAC standings with a perfect 8-0 mark.  They have won eight straight matches since conference play began and are currently ranked 22^nd in the AVCA NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll.  Their winning streak is the longest current streak in the conference.
 
As a team, Mines lead the RMAC in three related statistical categories, ranking amongst the nation's top ten in each of those as well.  They have put down 930 total kills, an average of 15.25 per set to rank fourth nationally for their average. They also lead the RMAC and standing ninth nationally in hitting percentage at .274.  They also lead the RMAC in assists with 878, an average of 14.39 per set, which ranks them second in the country. 
 
Individually, senior setter Marina Hansen is the national leader in assists per set at 13.29 while senior LaRose Currie is third in the conference for digging, averaging 4.56 per frame. 
 
Along the net, Ellie Monarch (.364) and Abby Tiesman (.348) stand third and fourth in hitting percentage while Tiesman is fifth in blocks, averaging 1.03 per set.  Monarch stands ninth in kills, averaging 3.31 per set.
 
Freshman outside hitter Lindsay Jin is this week's RMAC's Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.14 kills and hitting. 397 in weekend wins at Fort Lewis and Adams State.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks have won three straight matches against Colorado Christian after the Cougars had won five straight from 2010-13 in a streaky series history that saw the Mavericks win eight straight from 2002-09.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks have gone 2-5 against Mines in the last seven meetings dating back to 2011.  The Orediggers have been nationally-ranked at the time of all seven match-ups.
 
Up Next
 
After this week's two matches, the Mavericks will return home to face two of the RMAC's newest members from South Dakota in Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines on Oct. 20 and 21, respectively.