GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Off for the past two weekends after upending Nebraska and CSU Bakersfield in their last competition in southern California, the Colorado Mesa University Beach Volleyball Team will resume their season closer to home as they travel to Salt Lake City to play the host University of Utah Utes and Boise State Broncos in the Utah Beach Classic on Saturday.
The Mavericks, 3-6 this season, will play the Utes (4-6) at 10 a.m. and the Broncos (10-5) at 1 p.m. before Utah and Boise State wrap-up the tri-dual with a 4 p.m. encounter at Ute Beach.
Saturday's competition will be the first ever home event for the Utes, who launched their program in 2017.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks went 2-2 at the Belmont Shore Challenge, hosted by Long Beach State University in their last action on Mar. 22. The Mavericks opened that tournament with a 3-2 win over Nebraska and closed it out with a win by the same score line against CSU Bakersfield. In between the Mavericks dropped matches to the then ninth-ranked hosts and the University of Washington, receiving votes in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Poll at the time. Earlier in their spring break trip, the Mavericks fell to No. 13 Loyola Marymount and CSUN.
Three out of Four
The Mavericks No. 4 duo of sophomore
Ara Norwood and freshman
Holly Schmidt won three of their four matches during the Belmont Shore Challenge after starting the year with five straight defeats.
In the win over Nebraska, Norwood and Schmidt pulled out a 15-12 third-set win over Hayley Densberger and Anezka Szabo to allow the Mavericks to even the team score at 2. They also put the Mavericks on the board against CSU Bakersfield defeating Ally Barber and Rafa Bonifacio in straight sets (21-19, 21-16).
Thrillers
In the Mar. 22 win over Nebraska, the Maverick No. 2 duo of
Macie Lachemann and
Rachael Perrine pulled out a 3-set (21-19, 19-21, 15-12) win to clinch the dual over the Huskers. Against the CSUB Roadrunners,
Magdalena Dabrowski and
Kerstin Layman came from a set down to win the No. 5 match. The Mavericks were also down 2-0 as a team in that match before winning the final three matches to claim the victory.
Three have Three
Three different Maverick duos have won three matches this season with
Katie Scherr and
Portia Valadez posting that total in the No. 1 spot.
Ara Norwood and
Holly Schmidt also have a 3-6 record at No. 4 while Dabrowski and Layman have done the same in the No. 5 position.
Scherr on the verge
Picking up two wins with Valadez in California, Maverick junior
Katie Scherr now has 14 victories in her Maverick career and is now just one win away from matching and two from breaking the Mavericks' program-record of 15, currently held by
Taylor Woods, Scherr's partner in 2018.
Two Away
With two wins this Saturday, the Mavericks would match their program record of five, a total posted by both the 2017 and 2018 squads.
A look back at last season
The Mavericks had a strong season in 2018, posting five team wins, including a triumph over NCAA Division I Abilene Christian. They went 5-15 overall playing a very challenging schedule that included 10 nationally-ranked opponents.
They also dominated the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Sand 2's Championships going 1-2-3 in the tournament while taking the team title with 675 points, easily out-distancing Regis, which was second with 350.
Scouting the opponents
Utah
The Utes, in their third year with a beach volleyball program, are currently 4-6 on the season. They went 1-2 at last weekend's Arizona State Tournament in Tempe falling 4-1 to the hosts on Saturday, Apr. 6 before splitting 5-0 decisions on Sunday, Apr. 7. Their win was over Abilene Christian while their loss came at the hands to No. 14 Arizona.
The No. 2 partnership of Kenzie Koerber and Megan Yett went 2-1 over the weekend to lead Head Coach Brenda Whicker's squad.
The Utes launched their program in 2017 and are also just one win away from matching their young program's record for team wins of five.
Boise State
The Broncos are enjoying their best ever season that has seen them win five straight matches while improving to 10-5 overall. They went 3-0 at the Sacramento State Tournament last weekend in Folsom, California defeating the hosts, Pacific and UC Davis. Prior to that, they won back-to-back matches against Nebraska in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The duo of Kendra Bodine and Janell Walley is 11-4 this year. They played the first four matches of the campaign at the No. 2 spot but have moved into the No. 1 flight for the last 11, going 7-4. They are riding a 5-match winning streak as well.
Morgan Hughes and Sabryn Roberts have also been solid in the top half posting a 9-6 record, including a 3-1 record at No. 1 and a 6-5 mark at No. 2.
Series Histories
Despite being less than 300 miles apart, the Mavericks and Utes have never previously played against each other.
Saturday's match against Boise State will be the second of the season and all-time between the Mavericks and Broncos. Boise State won the initial meeting by a 5-0 score on Feb. 23 in Tucson, Arizona. The No. 1 and 3 matches of that dual went to three sets as Scherr and Valadez &
Hailey Crane and
Lindy Dixon both won the opening sets of their respective encounters.
Up Next
After this week's trip, the Mavericks will head to Florida to compete in the Apr. 19-21 AVCA Small College Beach Championship, which will be their final traditional dual-meet format competition of the year. The Mavericks have added the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Sand 2's Championships to their schedule on Apr. 27 in Broomfield, Colorado.
