GOLDEN, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team made quick work of South Central Region rival Texas Woman's University in their Saturday morning match at the Oredigger Classic here in the Colorado School of Mines' Lockridge Arena.  The Mavericks needed just 63 minutes to post the 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 victory while improving to 2-1 at the tournament and the young season.
 
Junior outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards led the way with 14 kills on a fine .370 hitting effort.  She also had six digs and three blocks.  Setter Samantha Ritter doled out 33 assists as the Mavericks hit .255 as a team.
 
Defensively, junior libero Taylor Woods had 17 digs while senior middle Hattie Gianinetti led the front-row defense with four blocks, helping hold the Pioneers (0-3) to a .021 team attack percentage.
 
The Mavericks finished with 39 kills as a team and were never truly tested as they were able to win 38 of the 52 points (73 percent) that TWU served, never allowing a run of more than four straight Pioneer points throughout the match.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks got out to a quick start as Katie Scherr served three straight aces to begin the match.  The Mavericks would quickly extend that lead to 10-4 and never led by fewer than four points in the rest of the set that saw them hit .300.
 
The Mavericks would fall behind 6-3 early in the second half but responded with an extended 13-4 run to seize control.  Scherr was at the service line for a 5-0 stretch of that run.
 
The third set was again close in the early stages before a 5-1 run featuring back-to-back kills by Reed Jacobson and a Megan Gianinetti/Natalee Todd block helped the Mavericks build a 17-13 lead.  The Mavericks would lead by 3-5 points for the rest of the set and then put it and the match away with a block by Alyssa Chutka and Edwards followed by Megan Gianinetti's sixth kill.
 
The Mavericks will close out the weekend with arguably their biggest challenge facing 15^th-ranked Cal State-San Bernardino at 5:30 p.m.  The Coyotes split their two matches with fellow nationally-ranked squads on Friday and play No. 13 Wayne State (Neb.) earlier Saturday afternoon.