KANSAS CITY, Mo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks won their second and third consecutive matches while improving to 5-3 as they took down Emporia State University in four sets (25-15, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21) and William Jewell College in three (25-16, 25-18, 25-14) on Saturday in their final non-conference matches of the season here at the Rockhurst Volleyball Classic.
The Mavericks finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, equal to the tournament's best, and now return home to Brownson Arena for the first time in 2018 to begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Friday against CSU-Pueblo. First serve of what will be a 3-match, 5-day homestand is at 7 p.m.
Emporia State Match
In Saturday's morning match against the Hornets (2-6) who went on to upset the host and nation's sixth-ranked Rockhurst Hawks later in the day, the Mavs were led by
Kasie Gilfert's 14 kills. The sophomore transfer from Division I Northern Arizona hit .379 and also had five blocks.
Senior outside hitter
MacKenzie Edwards was also in double figures with 10 kills.
Underclassmen setters
Ara Norwood, a sophomore, and
Hannah Bokal, a freshman, tallied 26 and 23 assists, respectively, while senior libero
Taylor Woods chipped in 21 digs.
Katie Scherr (9 kills),
Ashton Reese (7),
Natalee Todd (6) and
Camille Smith (6) also made significant contributions. Todd hit .455 on 11 swings while Smith needed just nine swings while hitting .556.
The Mavericks hit .236 as a team and also recorded a season-high nine service aces, including three each from Edwards and Woods.
William Jewell Match
The Mavs were even more efficient against William Jewell (2-6), putting down 44 kills while hitting a strong .330 as a team. Meanwhile, the Mavericks' defense held the Cardinals to just 23 kills and a .023 attack percentage.
William Jewell never led in any of the three sets.
Gilfert led the Mavs with 10 kills and hit .438 while recording four blocks. Edwards hit .364 with nine kills while Todd chipped in six kills and five blocks while hitting .455.
Norwood had 18 assists while Bokal registered 17.
Woods finished with 18 of the Mavericks' 42 digs.
Editor's Note: Stats for the William Jewell match were updated on Sept. 5, 2018.
