GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball squad will make their second long trip of the young season this weekend heading east to Kansas City, Missouri to compete in the Rockhurst Volleyball Classic.
 
The Mavericks went 2-2 in their opening weekend at the Concordia Invitational in Irvine, Calif., and will begin this weekend on Friday at noon MDT (1 p.m. CDT) to face the host Hawks, ranked sixth nationally, in their Mason-Halpin Field House.
 
CMU will also play another 4-0 squad in Northwest Missouri State later in the day at 4:30 p.m. MDT (5:30 p.m. Central) before taking on Emporia State (1-3) and William Jewell (1-3) on Saturday at 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mountain, respectively (9 a.m./5:30 p.m. CDT).
 
Live statistics can be found on the links below and Maverick fans are also encouraged to follow the team on Twitter at @CMU_VBall and to stay tuned to www.cmumavericks.com for post-match recaps.  No streaming coverage will be available.

Live Stat Links

Friday, Aug. 31
at Rockhurst (Noon-Mountain; 1 p.m. Central)
vs. Northwest Missouri State (4:30 p.m.-Mountain; 5:30 p.m. Central)

Saturday, Sept. 1
vs. Emporia State (8 a.m.-Mountain; 9 a.m. Central)
vs. William Jewell (4:30 p.m.-Mountain; 5:30 p.m. Central)
 
Records are meant to be broken… a decade later
 
Maverick senior libero Taylor Woods set a new rally-scoring era (2001-Present) school-record for career digs on Saturday in the Mavericks' match against Azusa Pacific.  She had 21 digs in that match and broke Ashley Loftsgard's decade-old record of 1,578 in the second set of that 5-set match.  Woods tallied 32 digs in the season-opener against Cal State-L.A., the fourth-highest single-match total of her illustrious career, and finished the weekend with 83, an average of 5.53 per set, which ranks her second in the RMAC early this season.  The Glendale, Arizona product now has 1,606 digs in her career, which is the third most in the program's all-time history.
 
Only Amy Miller (2,542; 1991-94) and Pam Glenn (1,783; 1992-95) recorded more.
 
Woods, the 2015 RMAC and AVCA South Central Region Freshman of the Year and 3-time overall All-RMAC selection, is also well above pace to break Loftsgard's rally scoring era digs per set record.  She is averaging 4.96 digs in 324 career sets to date.  Loftsgard averaged 4.03 in 392 sets played in her 2005-08 career.
 
Woods, who ranks second in the RMAC with her 5.53-dig per set average this season is now just 177 away from matching Glenn for No. 2 in CMU's all-time history.
 
Player of the Week honor
 
For her efforts on the opening weekend, Woods was named as the RMAC's Defensive Player of the Week.  The award is the fifth such weekly honor of her career.
 
Debutant earns all-tourney honor
 
Maverick newcomer Kasie Gilfert certainly had a strong start to her CMU career over the weekend and earned a spot on the Concordia Invitation's all-tournament team, which was announced late Monday.  The Division I transfer (Northern Arizona), who originally hails from Parker, Colorado, led the Mavericks in both kills (47) and blocks (19) during the tournament.  The 6-foot middle blocker and right side, had 14 kills in the season-opener against Cal State-L.A. and was in double figures in three of the team's four matches.
 
Gilfert also hit an impressive .394 and is ranked amongst the RMAC's top 10 in four different statistical categories.
 
Her 1.27 block per set average leads the RMAC while her hitting percentage, aided significantly by an error-less 12-kill (.632, 19 attempts) effort Friday's win over Cal Poly Pomona, ranks her third in the RMAC.  She also ranks seventh in points per set (3.77) and ninth in kills per set (3.13).
 
Ms. Efficient
 
Junior middle blocker Camille Smith, who like Gilfert, hails from Parker, Colorado, is leading the RMAC in hitting percentage at .452.  Smith recorded a kill on exactly half of her 62 attempts at the Concordia Invitational and committed just three hitting errors.  She had 10 kills on just 13 attempts, good for a .769 attack percentage against Cal Poly Pomona and put down six kills on 10 swings (.600) in another errorless effort against Concordia-Irvine.  The Mavericks won both of those matches in straight sets.
 
Smith's .769 attack percentage on Friday against the Broncos was the best single-match effort for a Maverick (10 or more kills) in nearly four years since Abby Ney hit .786 (11-0-14) at New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 31, 2014.
 
Smith also stands seventh in the RMAC for blocking at 1.07 per set.
 
Good D
 
The Mavericks tallied a RMAC-leading 39 blocks on the opening weekend of the season and are also leading the RMAC blocks per set (2.60) and opponent hitting percentage, holding their opponents to a combined .124 mark.
 
Crane's career day
 
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Hailey Crane, who played in 16 sets and 12 matches as a redshirt freshman in 2017, tallied a then career-high 10 kills on Saturday against Azusa Pacific and then went one better that evening put down 11 to lead all players in the win over Concordia Irvine.  The efforts were her first two double-figure kill matches of her young career.  The Bothell, Washington native also had four blocks against Azusa Pacific.
 
Deep lineup
 
Sixteen different Maverick players saw action during the opening weekend of the season at the Concordia Invitational.  Ten of those played in all four matches while seven different players started at least two of them.  Although not an official starter, statistically speaking, Taylor Woods was also the team's libero in all four matches.
 
Freshman Contributions
 
Three of the Mavericks' five true freshman made a combined 10 appearances at the Concordia Invitational.  Setter and right side Hannah Bokal of El Paso, Texas, played in all four matches and 10 sets recording 41 assists, 21 digs and three service aces over the weekend.  All three of her aces and a team-high 17 of her assists came in the final match of the weekend against Concordia-Irvine.
 
Meanwhile, defensive specialist Kerstin Layman of Littleton, Colorado, tallied 20 digs and three aces while recording a .963 serve reception percentage, the best of any primary Maverick passer.  She also played in all four matches and all but one of the 15 sets.
 
Outside hitter Holly Schmidt of Castle Rock, Colo. made a pair of appearances, recording three kills and a pair of digs in four total sets.  She also hit .400.
 
Pre-Season Picks
 
The Mavericks were picked to finish fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this year, according to the conference preseason coaches' poll.  They received 173 points in the polling of the conference's 16 head coaches after their 17-10 (11-7 RMAC) 2017 season that saw them finish sixth in the conference's regular season standings.
 
CMU also had two Preseason All-RMAC selections in seniors MacKenzie Edwards, a returning AVCA Honorable Mention All-America outside hitter, and libero Taylor Woods.  Edwards was a First Team All-RMAC selection last year while Woods earned second team honors for the second straight year in 2017.
 
Fleming in charge
 
The 2018 is the Mavericks' 14^th under Head Coach Dave Fleming, who has racked up 246 career wins (246-143) and a .632 career winning percentage.  Fleming, who is just four wins away from 250, took over the helm of the program in 2005 and is just the fourth head coach in the program's 34-year history.  He has guided the Mavericks to six NCAA Division II National Tournament berths, a 2014 RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles and three RMAC West Division crowns.  The Mavericks have had winning seasons in all but one of his years with the program and have reached the 20-win mark four times.
 
About Rockhurst - ​​​​​Team Website

The Hawks will pose a formidable challenge on Friday as they will enter the match with a perfect 4-0 record this year after going 32-8 while reaching the NCAA semifinals a year ago. 
 
They were ranked 10^th nationally in the AVCA Division II Preseason Coaches' Poll but moved up to sixth after their opening-weekend performances.
 
The Hawks, who were picked second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Preseason Poll behind only now No. 3 Lewis (Ill.) dropped just two sets last weekend at West Texas A&M's BritKare Lady Buff Classic sweeping the host Lady Buffs and Lubbock Christian on Friday before claiming 4-set wins over Adams State and Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. 
 
As a team, the Hawks hit .304 during their weekend in Canyon, Texas, and held opponents to a .134 mark.  Alyssa Woodman led the team with 54 kills, a 3.86 per set average.  She also hit at a .383 clip and was named as the tournament MVP.  Meanwhile, Emma Kriete hit .403 while putting down 34 kills (2.43/set) and 17 blocks (1.21/set) to earn a spot on the all-tournament team as well.
 
The Hawks have won 12 straight regular-season matches dating back to 2017 and are an impressive 70-5 at the Mason-Halpin Field House since 2012.  They have qualified for the NCAA Tournament five times in that 6-year stretch. 
 
The Mavericks last played them in 2004, winning a 5-set match on Sept. 4 of that year in Grand Junction but have not played the Hawks since Dave Fleming took charge of the program.
 
About Northwest Missouri State - Team Website
 
The Bearcats of Maryville, Missouri, also had a strong start to the 2018 campaign going a perfect 4-0 at last weekend's Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kansas.  They won all four matches in straight sets defeating the RMAC's CSU-Pueblo in their season-opener and are now receiving votes in this week's AVCA poll.
 
They have returned four starters from last year's team that went 17-15 while finishing fifth in the MIAA.  They were picked sixth in the MIAA poll.
 
Maddy Bruder, a 3-time First Team All-MIAA selection, led the Bearcats with 45 kills (3.75/set) while hitting .305 over the opening weekend.  She was one of six players to hit over .300 throughout the weekend.  The Bearcats hit a combined .319 in their first four matches and held opponents to a .103 mark.  Setter Maddy Ahrens averaged an impressive 11.25 assists per set and also tallied 35 digs (2.92/set), 10 blocks (0.83/set) and 10 kills as well.
 
Friday's meeting is believed to be the first between the programs.
 
About Emporia State - Team Website
 
The Hornets of Emporia, Kansas, went 1-3 at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic playing the same opponents as Rockhurst.  They started the year with a 5-set win over Eastern New Mexico but fell to Lubbock Christian, West Texas A&M and Adams State.
 
Tatum Graves led the Hornets in the opening weekend with 48 kills (2.82/set) and 16 blocks (0.94/set) and was selected to the all-tournament team.  They hit just .162 as a team throughout the weekend in the Texas panhandle.
 
The Hornets are coming off a 15-16 season in 2017 and were picked eighth in the MIAA's preseason poll.
 
The two programs last met way back in 1995 when the Mavericks won 3-0 in a match played in Hays, Kansas.
 
About William Jewell - Team Website
 
The Cardinals, who hail from Liberty, Missouri, also went 1-3 on their opening weekend, playing at the Washburn Invitational.    However, their lone win came against UCCS, which was picked just behind the Mavericks in the RMAC's preseason poll. 
 
Senior libero Olivia Tolberd averaged 5.47 digs per set (93 total) and was named to the all-tournament team while Lacey Albers and Elizabeth Quinn both averaged more than a block per set.  Maddie Wingert led a balanced attack with 39 kills (3.00/set).
 
The 2017 edition of the Cardinals went 10-21.  They were picked 13^th in this year's GLVC poll.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's tournament, which will mark the end of the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Mavericks will turn their attention to RMAC play.  They will play each of their first three conference matches at home in a 5-day stretch starting Friday, Sept. 7 against CSU-Pueblo.  They also host New Mexico Highlands on Sept. 8 and then Western State on Sept. 11.  All three of those matches in Brownson Arena will begin at 7 p.m.