SALT LAKE CITY— A balanced Colorado Mesa University Maverick Volleyball team hit a combined .290 and came up with eight blocks in a 25-22, 25-20, 25-16 straight set sweep of host Westminster College on Friday night here in the  Griffins' Behnken Field House.
 
The victory was CMU's third straight and set up a massive Saturday evening (6 p.m.) encounter with Dixie State University in St. George where sole possession of third place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings on the line.
 
Both teams are now 9-3 in RMAC action as the Trailblazers (14-6) claimed a 4-set win over Western Colorado University earlier Friday night.  Meanwhile, the Colorado School of Mines was swept at No. 12 Regis on Friday in Denver and dropped into fifth place at 8-4.
 
CMU, now 13-7 overall, had six different players with six or more kills in Friday's win.  Kasie Gilfert led the way with an even dozen.  She also had four blocks.
 
Meanwhile, freshman Maranda Theleus had nine kills while Holly Schmidt put down eight on .444 hitting.  Fellow outside hitter Katie Scherr, Hailey Crane and Camille Smith all finished with six.
 
Junior setter Ara Norwood had 24 assists, nine digs and three service aces while sophomore libero Kerstin Layman led the Mavs with 14 digs.
 
Scherr added a dozen.
 
The Mavericks limited the Griffins to 37 kills and a .178 team hitting percentage and have now defeated them in nine straight matches.