GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Down 7-6 in the third set after dropping the second, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks exploded for nine straight points to seize control and an eventual 4-set Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball win over visiting New Mexico Highlands University on Saturday night in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks won that third set convincingly, 25-13, and then scored the first five points of the fourth before another 3-0 mini-run broke a 9-9 tie.  They were never threatened again and went on to take the 25-16, 21-25, 25-13, 25-18 win to improve to 7-3 overall and to 2-0 in RMAC play.
 
CMU has now won five straight matches overall, the longest current winning streak in the RMAC, dropping just two of their last 15 sets
 
NMHU fell to 3-7 overall and to 1-1 in the RMAC.
 
Senior outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards recorded her third double-double of the season for the Mavericks as she registered a match-high 13 kills while claiming 12 digs.  She was also at the service line during the key third-set spurt.
 
Meanwhile, Camille Smith put down 12 kills and six blocks while hitting .455 while Katie Scherr finished with 10 kills and five blocks to join the other two in double figures.
 
Kasie Gilfert also had five blocks as the Mavericks recorded a dozen as a team. 
 
Meanwhile, Taylor Woods recorded 20 digs as the RMAC's top defensive unit held the Cowgirls to a .052 attack percentage as the Mavericks have now held each of their last three opponents below .100.
 
Setters Ara Norwood and Hannah Bokal finished with 21 assists each.  Bokal also had a pair of service aces as one of six different Mavericks to win a point from the serve.
 
The Mavericks finished with 53 kills and hit .193.  They hit .455 in the third set after getting out to a solid start by hitting .243 in the opening set.
 
However, the Mavericks were guilty of eight hitting errors and hit just .081 in the second as the Cowgirls tallied 14 of their kills compared to eight in each of the other three sets.
 
The Mavericks will look to continue their winning streak on Tuesday when the Mavericks host Western State Colorado University at 7 p.m. to wrap up a 3-match, 5-day home-stand.  The Mountaineers fell to 1-9 (0-2 RMAC) after dropping a 3-0 decision to CSU-Pueblo on Saturday in Gunnison.