DENVER—The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks saw their RMAC-leading 5-match winning streak come to an end as the MSU Denver Roadrunners claimed tight second and fourth set wins en-route to a 25-13, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23 conference win on Saturday evening here at the Auraria Events Center.
 
MSU Denver, ranked fifth in the initial set of NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankins and receiving votes in the AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, improved to 18-7 overall and to 15-2 in the RMAC with their fifth straight and 15^th win in the last 16.  In the process, the Roadrunners, currently third in the RMAC standings, clinched the right to host a home match in the quarterfinals of the upcoming RMAC Tournament.
 
The Mavericks, ranked 10^th in Wednesday's regional rankings, slipped to 17-7 overall and to 11-5 in the RMAC and will be on the road for the RMAC Tournament quarterfinals as they can be no higher than the No. 5 seed after Colorado Christian (13-3 RMAC) claimed a Saturday night win over Adams State to gain a 2-match lead on the Mavericks for the No. 4 spot with just two matches to go.  CCU, a possible opponent in the tournament, will win any head-to-head tie-breakers thanks to their Oct. 12 win in Lakewood.
 
On Saturday, the Mavericks were paced by double-double efforts from both junior outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards and sophomore setter Samantha Ritter, but were also guilty of 36 attack errors, 13 of which came thanks to Roadrunner blocks.
 
Edwards tallied 15 kills and 14 digs to record her second double-double of the weekend while Ritter had 45 assists and 14 digs.  Both players now have 11 double-doubles this season.
 
CMU also received a dozen kills from Hattie Gianinetti and 11 more from both her twin sister Megan and sophomore outside hitter Katie Scherr.
 
Taylor Woods led the Maverick defense with a match-high 19 digs.
 
MSU Denver was paced by a 15-kill, 15-dig effort from Santaisha Sturgis.
 
The Mavericks were guilty of 11 hitting errors and hit in the negative in the first set but valiantly fought their way to a 22-20 second set lead after kills by Megan Gianinetti and Scherr.  However, the Roadrunners would score the final five points of the set, two of which came on Alexis Benda/Vasati Fiatoa tandem blocks, to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
 
In the third set, the Mavericks trailed 13-11 before both offenses sputtered, especially the Roadrunners'.  The hosts were guilty of 10 attack errors in the second half of the set, four of which were thanks to Maverick blocks as CMU claimed the set with relative ease to force a fourth.
 
The Roadrunners would gradually build a 17-14 lead in the fourth.  The Mavericks would close within a single point on four separate occasions but could not get over the hump as Benda and Stephanie Laraway finished the match with a block.
 
The two teams will now prepare to duke it out again on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the second half of a home-and-home in CMU's Brownson Arena in what will be MSU Denver's final regular season match.  The Mavericks, who will honor their two lone seniors in the Gianinetti twins that night, will then return to Denver to face 12th ranked Regis to close out the regular season in a week's time.