GOLDEN, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team started the 2017 season with an emphatic 3-set (25-15, 25-17, 25-19) sweep of former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Western New Mexico University in their first match of the Oredigger Classic, here in the Colorado School of Mines' Lockridge Arena on Friday afternoon.
 
The Mavericks hit .324 as a team with a balanced attack, led by sophomore setter Samantha Ritter, who doled out 39 assists. Five different Maverick hitters finished with seven or more kills, a group led by junior outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards, who finished the afternoon with 11.  Megan Gianinetti had nine while her sister Hattie Gianinetti and Natalee Todd put down eight a piece.  Katie Scherr finished with seven while hitting a team-best .462.
 
Defensively, the Mavericks recorded eight blocks and held the Mustangs to a .067 hitting percentage.  Todd had five total blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs.  On the back row, junior libero Taylor Woods led the Mavs with 12 digs while Megan Gianinetti tallied 10.
 
In the opening set, Edwards book-ended a 5-0 run with kills that broke open what had been an 8-7 set allowing the Mavericks to build a 13-7 lead.  Todd also had two kills in that spurt when Woods was behind the service line.
 
CMU also had a 5-0 run early in the second set to build a 10-5 lead.  Megan Gianinetti sparked that run with a kill and was behind the service line for the rest of it.
 
The third set was a little more challenging and saw Western New Mexico get out to a 16-15 lead before back-to-back blocks put the Mavericks ahead for good.  WNMU would not go away and was within one (19-18) before a Hattie Gianinetti kill and Megan Gianinetti service ace started a 4-0 run that led to the victory.
 
The Mavericks will take to the court again at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Rollins (Fla.), which lost in four sets to No. 13 Wayne State (Neb.) earlier in the day.