GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Beach Volleyball team will head to the East Coast for the first time in program history this weekend to compete in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Small College Beach Championships in Tavares, Florida.
The Mavericks, who are 3-8 this season against primarily Division I institutions, were named as the fourth seed in the 12-team Division II/III competition on Monday. They are making their first ever appearance in this national competition in this, their fourth year of sponsoring a beach volleyball program.
The Mavericks, who have played 10 matches against NCAA Division I opposition so far this season, will play six or seven team matches over three days starting Friday at Hickory Point Beach.
Real Time results of the tournament can be accessed at the link above.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks played the University of Utah for the first time in program history on Saturday at the Utah Beach Classic. The Mavericks fell 3-2 in that match, which came down to a third set and was ultimately decided by just two points. The Mavericks then dropped a 5-0 decision to Boise State later in the tri-dual.
Against Utah, the Mavericks took 1-0 and 2-1 team leads as they picked up wins in the No. 5 and No. 4 matches. The Mavericks also picked up an exhibition victory.
At No. 5,
Magdalena Dabrowski and
Kerstin Layman won in three sets (12-21, 21-19, 15-11) over Kinga Windisch and Keena Smalls.
Holly Schmidt and
Ara Norwood then swept 21-19 sets over Phoebe Grace and Olivia Teerlink at No. 4 after the Utes had got on the board with a third flight match win. The Utes then evened the match at No. 1 and took the team victory when Kenzie Koerber and Megan Yett squeaked out a 21-23, 21-12, 15-13 win at No. 2 over
Macie Lachemann and
Samantha Ritter.
How It Works
The format for this weekend's tournament is somewhat complex, but will try to be explained.
The Mavericks have been placed in the third of three 4-team pools for Friday's portion of the tournament. They are seeded fourth overall and will play against tenth-seeded Principia College, No. 9 seed Tusculum University (Tenn.) and No. 3 seed University of Tampa in Pool C matches at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. EDT, respectively.
The final pool standings will then determine which of four 3-team Challenge Round groups the 12 teams will be placed in for Saturday's portion of the tournament, which will see each team play the other two teams in their group. In many ways, Saturday's two matches will be the most important of the tournament as they will determine which of three 4-team brackets the teams will be placed in for Sunday morning's bracket play semifinals. The Gold bracket will include the winners of each Challenge Round group. That bracket will also feature a third place match for the semifinal losers.
The Silver bracket will include the second place team from each Challenge Round group and will determine fifth through eighth place overall. The Bronze bracket will include the third place teams from each Challenge Round group and will determine ninth through 12
th places. The Silver and Bronze brackets will not have consolation matches for semifinal losers.
The Silver and Bronze bracket finals are slated for Noon (EDT) on Sunday while the Gold Championship and third place matches will be played at 1:30 p.m. (EDT).
There will also be an 8-team NAIA Tournament going on at the same time.
Additionally, there will be a Best of the Rest Pairs blind-draw tournament for players not in each team's 10-person, 5-pair lineup.
Ashton Reese and
Jordan Cody are expected to play in that together. Maverick freshman
Hannah Bokal is also expected to pair with a Webber International player as one of the 26 duos, who will be broken into six 3-team and two 4-team pools on Friday.
The rest of the field
In the team competition, defending champion Texas A&M-Kingsville is the top overall seed and has been placed in Pool A with No. 6 Saint Leo (Fla.), No. 7 Stevenson (Md.) and No. 12 Eckerd (Fla.).
Pool B is made up of No. 2 seed Spring Hill (Ala.), No. 5 Florida Southern, No. 8 Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) and No. 11 Carson Newman (Tenn.).
Ten of the 12 teams are Division II institutions with Stevenson and Principia representing Division III.
Team leaders
The Mavericks' No. 4 duo of
Ara Norwood and
Holly Schmidt and the No. 5 pairing of
Magdalena Dabrowski and
Kerstin Layman are tied for the team lead with four wins each. Both pairs are 4-7 in their respective flights this season.
Close behind
The Maverick's No. 1 pairing of
Katie Scherr and
Portia Valadez are right behind with three wins in 11 matches.
Making her return
Samantha Ritter played for the first time this season on Saturday as she paired with
Macie Lachemann in the No. 2 flight. Ritter, a 2017 Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection indoors, had been out due to injury for the Mavericks' first nine matches of this beach season.
Coming down to No. 5
The Mavericks are 3-1 as a team when the No. 5 duo of Dabrowki and Layman are triumphant. The Mavs are 0-7 as a team when they have lost their match.
Scherr on the verge
Maverick junior
Katie Scherr will enter this weekend with 14 career wins, 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.
Ritter is the only other current Maverick in double figures for career wins. She has 10, just one more than sophomore
Ara Norwood.
Two away
With two wins this weekend, 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 Pool C opponents
Principia
The Sandy Panthers, who hail from Elsah, Illinois, are wrapping up their fourth year as a beach volleyball program, just like the Mavericks. They have posted a 5-10 record this year going 3-1 at their Sand Box Smash in their most recent action on Apr. 6. They defeated Ottawa (Kan.) University, Missouri Baptist's B Team and Lewis and Clark Community College. They also hold wins over Carson Newman and William Carey this season.
Tusculum
The Pioneers are in their rookie season as a beach volleyball program but have posted a respectable 7-11 overall record. They fell 3-2 to Lincoln Memorial in their most recent action on Apr. 3. That match was their first ever home match in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Haley Davis and Melissa Mazur have the team's best partnership. They are 7-4 together, playing at the No. 1 spot all 11 times they have been matched together. Davis and Mazur also co-lead the team with ten wins apiece including other partnerships.
Tampa
The Spartans are 13-10 this year, playing a challenging schedule. Seven of their ten losses have come to teams ranked in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Poll at the time of the meeting. They have won three of their four April matches defeating Saint Leo twice and Florida Southern once, which helped them earn the top seed in Pool C.
Seven different players are in double figures for wins, a group led by Jordan Duffy and Melissa Elias, who have a dozen each.
Duffy is 12-6 and has been partnering with Erica Haslag at No. 5 in most of her recent matches.
Elias has been paired with Selina Pfuner in each of the last 15 team matches.
Series Histories
The Mavericks have never faced any of the other teams in the field and in fact have only played against only one other NCAA Division II institution (Concordia Irvine), in their previous beach volleyball history.
Up Next
After this week's trip, the Mavericks will wrap up their season with a title defense of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Sand 2's Championships which will be played on Apr. 27 at The Sports Oasis in Broomfield, Colorado.
