GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Coming off their fourth straight 3-set sweep, three of which came at home, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will head on the road for a pair of key Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches.  The Mavericks, who clinched a RMAC Tournament spot on Saturday, will visit UCCS on Friday at 7 p.m. before heading to Denver on Saturday for a 5 p.m. match at MSU Denver in the first leg of a home-and-home series that will bring the Roadrunners to Grand Junction on Thursday, Nov. 9.
 
The Mavericks are currently 16-6 overall and 10-4 in RMAC play and are in fifth place in the RMAC standings, one match ahead of UCCS and 2 1/2 behind third-place MSU Denver.
 
Stingy straight set streak
 
The Mavericks have recorded four consecutive straight-set sweeps and thus have won 12 consecutive sets after defeating Westminster (25-13, 25-17, 25-18) on Saturday night.  Additionally, they have held the opponents below 20 points in 10 straight sets since giving up 21 to Black Hills State in the first and second sets on Oct. 20.  The last time the Mavericks had won four straight consecutive matches by 3-0 margins was Oct. 24-Nov. 1, 2014 during a 19-match overall winning streak that pushed the Mavericks to RMAC regular season and tournament tiles and into the NCAA South Central Regional final.  The Mavericks also had a stretch of five consecutive 3-0 wins to begin the 2014 season.
 
Best in 5+
 
As a team, the Mavericks hit .389 in Saturday's win over Westminster, putting down 47 kills.  That hitting percentage is CMU's best single-match total since hitting .391 on Sept. 14, 2012 against New Mexico Highlands.  Alyssa Chutka, who hit .684 with a career-high 13 kills on 19 attempts and Hattie Gianinetti, who had nine kills and just one hitting error on 14 swings (.571) were major contributors to the effort.
 
October streak safe for next year
 
The Mavericks went 3-0 at home in the month of October this year and have now won 19 straight matches in Brownson Arena during that month, a streak that dates back to 2013.  In this sub-category, CMU is 23-1 (.958) over the last five years.  The Mavericks are slated for four RMAC home matches in October, 2018.
 
Chutka makes three
 
Junior Alyssa Chutka became the third Maverick player to pick up RMAC Player of the Week honor this season as she was tabbed as the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after hitting a combined and errorless .724 in last week's wins at Western State Colorado and against Westminster.  Fellow junior MacKenzie Edwards has also earned the offensive honor twice this season (Oct. 2 & Oct. 23) while sophomore Samantha Ritter was selected as the RMAC Setter of the Week on both Sept. 4 and Oct. 9.
 
All three in one gym
 
All three of this week's RMAC Player of the Week selections will be in one gym on Friday night as the Mavericks square off with UCCS in the Mountain Lions' Gallogly Events Center.  Chutka will help lead the Mavericks while UCCS lays claim to the reigning Defensive Player and Setter of the Week in Natasha Habert and Raelynn Edge, respectively.­
 
The road gets tougher
 
The Mavericks certainly took care of business in their 4-match winning streak against some of the lower-ranked teams in the RMAC.  Those opponents are a combined 13-43 (.232) in RMAC play this season.  The road certainly gets tougher for the rest of the regular season as the Mavericks will face opponents, all currently in the top six of the RMAC standings.  Their four remaining matches will be against teams that currently have a combined 49-10 (.831) RMAC record.
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Scouting the Mountain Lions
 
The Mountain Lions will enter Friday's match with a 12-10 overall record but are a strong 9-5 in RMAC play, just a match behind the Mavericks.  They are currently sixth in the conference standings but have lost three of their last four matches after winning three straight, seven of eight and 11 of 13 from Sept. 8-Oct. 14. 
 
Redshirt freshman setter Raelynn Edge is second in the RMAC and 17^th nationally for assists per set (11.33).  Her favorite targets have been senior middle blocker Taylor Hamilton and junior outside hitter Alyssa Brinton.  Hamilton leads the team with 295 kills and is fifth in the RMAC with her 3.64 per set average.  Brinton is right behind with 285 and ranks seventh with her 3.52 per set average.  Hamilton also ranks eighth in the conference for hitting percentage at (.320). 
 
Edge is also tied fourth in the RMAC for service aces per set (0.33) while Natasha Habert is fourth in digs per set (4.65).
 
Scouting the Roadrunners
 
MSU Denver, currently 16-7 overall and 13-2 in the RMAC, is receiving votes in the AVCA Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll for the second straight week.  They have won three straight matches since falling in five sets to then No. 19 (Now No. 17) Colorado School of Mines on Oct. 20 and had won 10 straight matches before that, a streak highlighted by a Oct. 9 win over then No. 9 (now No. 12 Regis).  All but one of the Roadrunners losses this year have come against teams currently ranked in the Top 25 nationally.
 
Junior outside hitter Santaisha Sturges is the RMAC leader for both total kills (349) and kills per set (4.15), ranking 20^th nationally for the latter.  Meanwhile, junior middle blocker Stephanie Laraway is ranked third in the RMAC with her .361 attack percentage while senior teammate Vasati Fiatoa is seventh at .326.  Senior defensive specialist Jackie Lopez also ranks amongst the RMAC leaders in two different categories sitting second in service aces (0.37/set) and 10^th in digs (4.08/set).  Senior setter Alyssa Svalberg directs the attack and is fifth in the RMAC for assists per set (10.80).
 
The Roadrunners host Western State Colorado on Friday before facing the Mavericks.
 
Series Histories
 
UCCS claimed a 5-set win over the Mavericks on Nov. 5, 2016 in Grand Junction last year after the Mavericks had won seven of the previous eight meetings dating back to Oct. 7, 2008.
 
The Mavericks and Roadrunners have been familiar foes over the last two years facing each other three times in both 2015 and 2016.  MSU Denver won all three meetings in 2016 ending CMU's season in the NCAA South Central Regional in San Angelo, Texas after winning both matches of a home-and-home on Nov. 4 and 8.  The Mavericks had won all three matches in 2015, including a RMAC Tournament semifinal and had also won the 2014 RMAC Tournament Championship ­encounter snapping a streak of seven straight Roadrunner wins from 2009-14.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's matches, the Mavericks will face MSU Denver again on Thursday, Nov. 9 in their final regular season home match before closing out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Regis.  The RMAC Tournament bracket will then be announced and will dictate who and where the Mavericks will play in their quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 14.