GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team needed all-America nights from their two returning all-America middles and received just that as Camille Smith and Kasie Gilfert combined for 42 kills to lead the Mavericks past a pesky Black Hills State University Yellow Jacket squad in five sets on Friday night here in Brownson Arena.
 
Smith, an Honorable Mention AVCA All-American last year, finished with a career-high 22 kills and hit .528 while Gilfert, CMU's first-ever First Team AVCA honoree in 2018, had 20 kills, a sizzling .633 while recording a match-high seven blocks.
 
The Mavericks, who improved to 11-7 overall and to 7-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play while remaining perfect at home this season and all-time against the Yellow Jackets (7-11, 5-5 RMAC), won the opening set 26-24.  They then fell in the second and third set by the same score before building a 17-10 lead en-route to a 25-20 fourth set win to force the deciding set, which they controlled from the start to win 15-7.
 
Maverick setters Ara Norwood and Samantha Ritter also had big nights as each recorded double-doubles while feeding the Mavericks' big weapons.  Norwood had 35 assists and a career-high 24 digs while Ritter finished with 26 assists and 14 digs.
 
Sophomore libero Kerstin Layman also finished with a match-high 25 digs while Hailey Crane recorded 10 kills to reach double figures for the third time in fourth matches.
 
As one would think by the tight scorelines, the first three sets featured 24 ties and nine combined lead changes.
 
In the first set, Smith and Gilfert had seven kills each as the Mavericks overcame a 12-7 deficit to roar back into a 16-16 tie on a Caren kill.  The set would also be tied at 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 before a Gilfert kill gave CMU the advantage.
 
However, Madison Hoopman, who had 17 kills to lead the 'Jackets, answered to tie the set at 24.
 
Smith then put down a kill before Ritter served an ace, one of seven CMU had on the night, to give the Mavs the early lead.
 
However, BHSU would be the team to pull out the second as they came from 23-22 and 24-23 down taking advantage of three consecutive hitting errors by BHSU.
 
After dropping the third set on a Yellow Jacket service ace to fall 2-1 down, the Mavericks seized an 8-4 advantage thanks to a 5-0 run with Ritter at the service line.  The Mavericks gradually extended that lead to 17-10, which was the largest lead of the night until the final point, and then withstood a late BHSU rally that had cut the gap to just three (23-20).
 
Winning the fourth set on a smash and a service ace by Smith, the Mavericks then rode the wave of momentum into the fifth set, building a 7-2 lead.  BHSU would score two straight points to pull within 7-4 but got no closer as the Mavericks cruised to the decisive fifth set victory.
 
The Mavericks are now 2-1 in 5-set matches this year and are 6-1 when they have lasted four or longer.
 
CMU is also a perfect 4-0 at home against the Yellow Jackets, all-time. 
 
The Mavericks are 3-0 at home and will put their 5-match overall home-court winning streak to the test again on Saturday when they South Dakota Mines (9-10, 5-5 RMAC), which also claimed a 5-set Friday night win over Western in Gunnison.