GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After playing their first 11 matches away from home, the Colorado Mesa University Volleyball squad will finally have a chance to play in Brownson Arena this weekend when the Mavericks host the two Utah-based Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents.  On Friday at 7 p.m., the Mavericks (6-5, 2-1 RMAC) will take on the Westminster College Griffins (2-7, 0-2 RMAC).  They then will host Dixie State University Trailblazers (7-3, 2-0 RMAC) on Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock. 
 
That match will be a re-match of both the 2018 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal and NCAA Division II Tournament opening round tilt.  The Mavericks won both of those.
 
Live video streams of both matches can be seen on the RMAC Network.  Live statistics will also be provided.  Both can be accessed at the links above.
 
Swing for Life on Saturday
 
Saturday's match against Dixie State will be CMU's annual Swing for Life match.  The promotion, ran by CMU Softball Alumna Kathy Howa's foundation will be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for breast cancer research.  To date, through her efforts, Swing for Life has raised over $1.1 million dollars, including over $35,600 through the CMU Community over the past 14 years.
 
Home-Sweet-Home
 
The Mavericks were a strong 9-1 at home last season and will have a chance at avenging their lone home defeat of 2018 this Saturday when the Mavericks take on Dixie State, which won a 4-set match on Oct. 12, 2018 in Brownson Arena.  The Mavericks are 44-9 (.830) over the last five years at home also going 9-1 in 2015 before posting 6-3 marks in 2016 and 2017.  The Mavs were also an impressive 14-1 in 2014 en-route to a RMAC Tournament Championship and NCAA South Central Regional final appearance and have had winning records at home in each of the last seven years since 2012, going 59-18 (.766) at home in that that span.
 
Player of the Week
 
After her efforts in the weekend matches at New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo, CMU redshirt junior Kasie Gilfert was named as the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.  That honor was the fourth of her Maverick career and makes her the second Maverick to earn the accolade this season (Camille Smith, Week #1).
 
In the two matches, Gilfert recorded 39 kills, an average of 4.88 per set, and 43 ½ total points, an average of 5.44 per frame, while hitting a solid .446 in two RMAC matches last weekend.  The 6-foot middle and right side out of Parker, Colorado had 15 kills and three blocks in a 3-set sweep of New Mexico Highlands on Friday.  She then tallied a season-high 24 kills and added four blocks on Saturday in a 5-set match at CSU-Pueblo.
 
She followed that up with 18 kills and four blocks, including three solos, in Tuesday night's win at Western.  She also hit .410 in that win.
 
Leading the RMAC
 
Gilfert is also leading the conference in both hitting percentage (.421) and kills per set (4.24).  She also stands second in total points per set (4.92) and eighth in blocking (0.95/set).
 
Elsewhere in the rankings
 
The Mavericks also have a few other players amongst the RMAC leaders in various statistical categories.  Camille Smith currently sits fourth in the RMAC with her .363 hitting percentage and is sixth in the conference for kills per set (3.14). 
 
Sophomore libero Kerstin Layman is sixth in digs per set at 4.49 while Ara Norwood is ninth in the conference for assists per set at 6.58.
 
Steady Senior
 
Senior outside hitter Katie Scherr has been steady at the outside hitter position for the Mavs reaching double-figures for kills in each of the Mavs' three RMAC matches thus far.  She also hit at a season-high .421 clip recording 11 kills on just 19 attempts in Tuesday's win at Western.  Scherr is third on the team in both kills (888) and hitting percentage (.224) and has been in double figures for kills six times this year.  Her .224 attack percentage is also more than 100 points higher than any previous year of her career.
 
1K Looming
 
Junior setter Ara Norwood, who has been the Mavs' starting setter as part of a 6-2 offensive attack in each of the past two seasons, is nearing the 1,000 career assist mark.  Norwood enters this weekend with 940 career assists, including 237 this season.  She is averaging 6.58 per set this year after recording 677 (6.10/set) last year.
 
Milestone Approaching
 
Camille Smith is also approaching a career milestone as well and enters the weekend with 471 career kills, just 29 shy of becoming the third current Maverick to reach 500.  Katie Scherr has 624 career kills to lead the current Mavs while Kasie Gilfert has 570 as a Maverick and 605 in her collegiate career, including 35 as a redshirt freshman at Division I Northern Arizona in 2017.
 
Fleming in year No. 15
 
The 2019 season is the Mavericks' 15th under Head Coach Dave Fleming, who has racked up 274 career wins (274-153) and a .642 career winning percentage, including this year's 6-5 mark thus far.  Fleming took over the helm of the program in 2005 and is just the fourth head coach in the program's 35-year history.  He has guided the Mavericks to seven NCAA Division II National Tournament berths, a 2014 RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles, last year's RMAC Tournament title and three RMAC West Division crowns.  The Mavericks have had winning seasons in all but one of his years with the program and have reached the 20-win mark five times, including in 2018, when the Mavericks went 24-7 to enjoy their second best season in Fleming's tenure, only shy of the program's 29-4 season in 2014.
 
About Westminster
 
The Griffins are 2-7 overall and 0-2 in RMAC play thus far.  Playing with a new head coach in Karrin Moore, they began the year with two non-conference tournaments in Texas.  They defeated the University of the Southwest (N.M.) and Texas A&M-International on Sept. 6 and 7, respectively, but have lost their last six since falling at home to South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State in their first two conference matches last weekend.
 
Audrey Green, a junior outside hitter, has once again been leading the team.  She has a team-high 99 kills and is amongst the top 10 RMAC players in both kills and total points per set.  Sophomore Lydia Miller is second on the squad with 86 kills (2.61/set). 
 
Defensively, senior libero Hannah Stearman has 133 digs (4.29/set) while Sydnee Simmons has 18 blocks (0.55) for a squad averaging just more than one (1.06) block per set.  Simmons is also hitting .349 offensively to rank seventh in the RMAC.  Aggie Roese-Olsen and Katie Jacox are tied for second on the Griffin squad in digs with 80 each and have split time at the setter position recording 146 and 83 assists, respectively.
 
About Dixie State
 
After a 1-3 start in their home tournament to begin the year, the Trailblazers have found their footing winning each of their last six matches needing to only go to four sets in three of them.  They have a balanced attack with five different players having recorded 55 or more kills, a group led by junior right side and setter Megan Treanor, who has 97 and a 2.85 per set average. 
 
A catalyst to their recent success, senior middle blocker/outside hitter To'a Faleao has 74 and is averaging 3.52 per set after missing the first four matches of the year.  She is fourth in the RMAC with that average and also leads the conference in service aces with her 0.71 per set average.
 
Like they were in 2018, the Trailblazers have once again been strong with the block and currently rank second the RMAC with their 2.41 per set average.  Lauren Gammell, last year's RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, has 43 blocks (1.26/set) to stand third individually and paces the team with her .340 attack percentage, the eighth best mark in the conference.
 
Jordyn Nelson has 195 assists while Treanor is second with 148.  Freshman libero Mykenna Nelson, Jordyn's younger sister, has an impressive 172 digs, a 5.06 per set average, to rank fourth in the RMAC.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks are 9-1 all-time against the Westminster Griffins, including a 7-1 mark since they joined the conference in 2015.  The Mavs have won each of the last seven matches in straight sets since dropping a 3-1 decision on Sept. 22, 2015 on the road in Salt Lake.  The Mavs are 5-0 at home and have not dropped a set in those previous meetings.
 
The rivalry with Dixie State has been short but intense.  The two teams played each other four times last year, in what was the Trailblazers' first year as RMAC members.  The Trailblazers won a pair of 4-set matches during the regular season before the Mavericks figured it out to defeat them twice in the post-season on neutral courts. 
 
The Trailblazers have a 4-3 lead in the all-time series and have won both match-ups in Brownson Arena, winning in 2011 and last year.  They will be leaving the RMAC for NCAA Division I and Western Athletic Conference pastures in 2020 and Saturday's visit may likely be DSU's last to Grand Junction.
 
Up Next
 
After this upcoming weekend, the Mavericks will return to the road for their next four matches over two weekends.  They will begin and end that stretch in Denver facing MSU Denver on Oct. 4 and Regis, which is up to 12^th in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll on Oct. 12.  The Mavs will also play at Chadron State on Oct. 5 and Colorado Christian on Oct. 11 returning to Grand Junction in between for a week of practice and classes.
 
The Mavs will then play seven of their final nine regular season matches at home.