GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks swept the doubles matches and received a thrilling 3-set win from junior Kirsten Kirby over the nation's 24^th-ranked player in singles but came up short in the other five singles matches as they fell to the MSU Denver Roadrunners, 5-2 on Thursday afternoon at the Elliott Tennis Center.
 
The Mavericks fell to 3-6 with what was their fifth straight loss and are still looking for their first spring win.  The Roadrunners, ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II South Central Region according to the Oracle/ITA Division II regional rankings, improved to 5-3.
 
The match did not count in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings although the two teams will meet again on Apr. 5 in Denver and potentially for a third time in the RMAC Championships, which the Mavericks will host on Apr. 26-27.
 
Kirby, now 8-7 overall and 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match, won her No. 1 singles match over Tabitha Porter, coming from a set behind.  She dropped the opening set, 6-2, but won the second and third by 6-2 and 6-1 margins.
 
"Kristen had a great day beating one of her main rivals," Maverick Coach Dan MacDonald said about the junior, who had also teamed with Emily Beckley to win a 6-4 doubles match over Porter and Helena Steenberg to help give the Mavericks the doubles point.
 
Rebecca Osterberg and Taylor Hershey won their No. 2 doubles match by a 6-2 score while Georgia Hansen and Maike Waldburger did the same at No. 3.  Osterberg and Hershey have now won five straight matches together.
 
However, the Roadrunners scored the first three singles points with straight set wins in the No. 2, 3, 4 flights before Kirby helped keep the overall match alive with her win. 
 
The Roadrunners then clinched the dual with a 6-4, 6-0 win from Olivia Kaiser over Waldburger at No. 6 singles before Ainsley Winterrowd stopped Taylor Hershey's winning streak at No. 5 with an epic 3-set (6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4) victory.
 
Hershey had won all seven of her previous spring season matches in singles and doubles combined before that loss.
 
"In singles, Metro State was just able to work the points into longer rallies and our shot tolerance was low," MacDonald said.  "We tried to be aggressive but didn't get the result we wanted."
 
The Mavericks will have to wait less than 48 hours when they will get an opportunity to bounce back.  They will host CSU-Pueblo (0-9) in a RMAC encounter at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.