GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Alyssa Chutka and Hattie Gianinetti combined for 22 kills while hitting a combined .636 to lead the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks to a dominant 3-set sweep of the visiting Westminster College Griffins in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball action, Saturday night here in Brownson Arena.
 
The 25-13, 25-17, 25-18 victory was the Mavericks' fourth straight 3-set sweep and allowed them to improve to 16-6 overall and to 10-4 in the RMAC.  It also allowed the Mavericks to clinch a spot in the upcoming RMAC Tournament with two weeks and four matches to spare.

Westminster fell to 7-16 overall and 4-11 in the RMAC as the Mavericks completed the season sweep of the Griffins.
 
Chutka finished the night with a career-high 13 kills and hit an errorless .684 on 19 swings throughout the night.  Chutka, who had eight kills on an errorless 10 attempts on Tuesday night at Western State Colorado, also led the Mavericks with four blocks.  Meanwhile, Gianinetti finished with nine kills and hit .571, committing just one error on her 14 swings.
 
Junior outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards also had a solid night with 11 kills on .318 hitting.
 
Sophomore setter Samantha Ritter orchestrated the Maverick attack, distributing the ball well while tallying 37 assists. 
 
As a team, the Mavericks hit .389, their highest percentage in more than five years, and out-killed the Griffins, 47-31.  Defensively, the Mavericks had a 46-34 edge in digs, thanks in large part to 17 digs from junior libero Taylor Woods, and a 6-2 advantage in blocks. 
 
The Mavericks also tallied six service aces, all in the first set.  They used a 12-3 extended run in that opening frame.  Katie Scherr had all of her match-high three service aces while Gianinetti had five kills in that spurt that broke what had been a 6-6 deadlock wide open.
 
CMU hit .429 in that opening set and then put down 19 kills in a solid second set, which saw them hit .390.  That set was tied at 9 before a 4-0 run sparked by kills from Ritter and Edwards helped the Mavericks gradually build a larger and larger lead.
 
The third set was also close early before a 6-0 run with Ritter at the service line again broke what had been a 10-10 tie wide-open.  The Mavericks hit .346 as a team in the third set.
 
The road will now get tougher for the Mavericks, currently fifth in the RMAC standings, as they head on the road for key RMAC tilts at UCCS and MSU-Denver next Friday and Saturday, respectively.  UCCS is just one match and one place behind the Mavericks in the RMAC standings at 9-5 while MSU Denver is 13-2 and in third place.