GOLDEN, Colo.— The old adage is do what you do well to win. 
 
The Colorado Mesa University Volleyball flipped that script on Friday night as they recorded 18 blocks, their most in a single-match since 2006, against the nation's best blocking team en-route to a 4-set (25-17, 20-25, 25-17, 25-21) Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal victory over Dixie State University on Friday evening here in the Colorado School of Mines' Lockridge Arena.
 
The victory, CMU's first in three tries this season against the second-seeded Trailblazers, advances the third-seeded Mavericks (22-6) to their third RMAC Tournament final in the last five years ago.  The Mavericks will play fourth-seeded MSU Denver which came from two sets down to win the third 33-31 before taking the fourth (25-15) and the fifth (15-12).
 
The Mavericks defeated the Roadrunners (21-8) in three sets at home back on Sept. 22 and won the 2014 RMAC title at home and the 2015 RMAC semifinal against them here in Golden.
 
However, MSU Denver eliminated the Mavericks from last year's RMAC Tournament in the quarterfinals and from the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
The Mavs' blocking prowess on Friday, should be of little surprise considering the squad came into the match ranked second in the RMAC and 19^th in the country (2.35/set) and on pace to have their best blocking season since 2003.
 
However, to out-block the Trailblazers, who averaged a national-leading 2.97 blocks per set coming in, 18-7 in the post-season says something for the Mavericks, who have now won five straight matches overall while all but locking up a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament, which begins next week, for the fourth time in the last five years.
 
RMAC Player of the Year Kasie Gilfert was involved in a rally-scoring era (2001-Present) school-record 14 of the Mavericks blocks on Friday, recording three solos. 
 
Her block total was the highest by any NCAA Division II player this year in a 4-set match and equal to the second highest for any length match this season.
 
Gilfert also finished with nine kills while outside hitters MacKenzie Edwards and Katie Scherr combined for 26 of the Mavericks' 53 kills.  Edwards led the Mavs' attack for the fourth straight RMAC Tournament match over the last three seasons with 14 kills and was just a dig shy of a double-double while Scherr chipped 12 kills and three blocks.
 
Camille Smith also had a solid night to compliment Gilfert in the middle with eight kills and three blocks while hitting .389 as setters Ara Norwood and Samantha Ritter both recorded double-doubles.
 
Norwood had 22 assists and 13 digs while Ritter had the same number of assists while recording 12 digs.  Taylor Woods also had 12 digs to continue her now 34-match double-figure streak while adding a pair of aces.
 
Allison Smith and Natalee Todd also provided sparks on the right side as Smith tallied six kills and four blocks to match a season-high while Todd finished with four kills and five blocks.
Dixie State was paced by 11 kills from Megan Treanor and 10 more from Malary Marshall.  Treanor also had 11 assists while Lauren Gammell, the nation's leading individual blocker, registered six in the losing cause while being held to just five kills.
 
Setter Jordyn Nelson had a 22-assist, 11-dig double-double while libero Sid Brandon, who along with Woods were the only liberos on the First or Second Team All-RMAC squad, had a match-high 23 digs.

The Trailblazers, who are a potential opponent for the Mavs in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament are now 22-5 on the year.  They were ranked fourth in this week's South Central Regional rankings, one spot ahead of the Mavericks with the eventual No. 4 and 5 seeds set to face off in the opening round of the regional.
 
The Colorado School of Mines was ranked third behind No. 1 Tarleton State and No. 2 Texas A&M-Commerce who claimed Lone Star Conference semifinal wins on Friday in Stephenville, Texas to advance to that conference's Saturday night championship match.
 
MSU Denver, which now has the RMAC's longest current winning streak at six matches, is ranked eighth in the region.
 
The other five teams in the rankings have now all been eliminated from their respective conference tournaments as St. Edward's, a 5-set winner over ninth-ranked Lubbock Christian, and Arkansas-Fort Smith, which posted a 3-set sweep of St. Mary's will square off in the Heartland Conference Championship for that conference's automatic bid into the 8-team regional portion of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Those selections will be announced on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. MST on www.ncaa.com.
 
In Friday's first set, the Mavericks recorded five blocks while hitting .306 on the offensive side.  The never trailed and got out to a 6-1 lead thanks to a Gilfert and Todd combination block, two Scherr kills, an Edwards kill and a Smith solo block.
 
Dixie would get within two at 6-4 but were never closer as the Mavericks finished off what was a 21-17 set with two Edwards kills and two tandem blocks by Gilfert and Smith.
 
The Blazers would battle their way back into the match as the Mavericks committed 10 hitting errors in the second set, highlighted by a 9-4 Dixie State stretch in the later moments.
 
The third set was the most even of the match, at least in the early going as it was tied four times.  It also had three lead changes although the Mavericks took advantage of 10 Trailblazer hitting errors, including three in a 4-0 run that put the Mavericks up for good at 10-7.
 
CMU led 16-14 later in the second but extended that lead to 19-16 before Edwards put down a back-row kill to spark a 4-0 run to put the Mavs up 23-16 after a Gilfert solo block.
 
Gilfert then put down a kill before Woods notched an ace to give the Mavs the set and the overall lead.

The Mavericks never trailed in the fourth set, which was competitive.  The Mavericks gained a 19-14 lead, their largest of the frame, on a Scherr kill before the Trailblazers clawed back to tie it at 21.
 
However, Edwards put the Mavericks ahead 22-21 before Gilfert had back-to-back kills to deliver a match point.
 
The Mavericks converted as Gilfert and Smith fittingly ended the match with a block of Hannah Doonan.