IRVINE, Calif.— Division I transfer Kasie Gilfert and returning honorable mention all-America outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards each put down 13 kills while senior libero Taylor Woods recorded 32 digs, the fourth highest total in her strong career, to lead the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks in their season-opener, a 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-19, 25-22) loss to Cal State-L.A., here at the Concordia Invitational.
 
Gilfert, a transfer from Northern Arizona, hit .400 on the day and added a pair of blocks while Edwards also tallied 10 digs and a team-high three blocks.
 
Ara Norwood got the start at setter and finished with 18 assists and eight digs while splitting time with Samantha Ritter, who had 11 assists.
 
Karla Santos had 16 kills to lead the Golden Eagles, who broke open a slight 16-15 first set lead with four straight points to seize control.  The Mavericks came back to within 20-18 on kills by Camille Smith and Edwards around a Golden Eagle error.
 
However, Santos put down three straight and four kills down the stretch to give her side the opening set.
 
In the second set, the Mavericks used a 7-0 run with Norwood at the service line to take a commanding 16-9 lead that would not be relinquished.
 
Cal State-L.A. held a slight lead throughout much of the third set and used a 6-2 run over the final eight rallies to win it.  The Mavericks were guilty of nine hitting errors in that frame and 25 overall.
 
The Mavericks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set but gave up a 9-2 run to fall behind, 9-5.  They were never fully able to recover and trailed by at least two points the rest of the way.
 
CMU will try to bounce back this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. MDT (3:30 p.m. Pacific) against Cal Poly Pomona in their second of the 4-match tournament weekend.­­
 
Woods is now just 23 digs away from tying Ashley Loftsgard's rally-scoring (2001-Present) school-record of 1,578 career digs.