GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team overcame a shaky start and put up some big numbers in a 24-26, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17 4-set Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over the Westminster College Griffins in the Mavericks' home-opener on Friday night in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks, who improved to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC with the win, had four players in double-figures for kills and had a wide 65-36 advantage over the Griffins in that category to the delight of a large and boisterous crowd of more than 800. 
 
CMU also hit .295 as a team and has a 92-64 cushion in total digs while holding the Griffins (2-8, 0-3 RMAC) to a .127 team attack percentage.
 
Kasie Gilfert led the Mavericks with 16 kills while hitting an impressive .469.  Right side hitters Ashton Reese and Maranda Theleus also put up career-highs of 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while Camille Smith put down 12.  Smith also had a part in a match-high five blocks in the middle.
 
Elsewhere, senior outside hitter Katie Scherr had a fine defensive night, recording a career-high 24 digs while coming up with six timely kills.  Sophomore Libero Kerstin Layman, celebrating her birthday, had 18 digs while senior setter Samantha Ritter recorded a double-double, her third of the season, with 22 assists and 14 digs.
 
Meanwhile, junior setter Ara Norwood tallied a career-high 32 assists and was just a dig shy of a double-double as well.  Maddi Foutz also added a dozen digs and five kills for the Mavs.
 
The first set was quite a battle and featured nine ties and four lead changes, including one late when the Mavericks overcame a 23-20 deficit to take a 24-23 lead and earn a set point.  Smith sparked the run with a kill before the Griffins were called for being out of rotation on the ensuing Smith serve.  They then misfired before Gilfert put the Mavs ahead for the first time since 6-5.
 
However, the Griffins called timeout and responded with a 3-0 run of their own to take the set when the Mavs were called for back-to-back ball handling errors, followed by their tenth hitting error of the night.
 
Gilfert had nine of CMU's 18 kills in the first set and added three more in a much more balanced second set attack.  The Mavericks hit .462 as a squad in that frame and never trailed getting out to 5-1, 7-2 and 12-5 leads before a 5-0 run with Scherr at the service line gave the Mavs a wide 18-6 margin.  Scherr had two of her season-high four aces in that spurt, which was too much for the visitors to overcome.
 
The third set was more of the same for the Mavericks, who hit .400 while jumping out to an 8-3 lead.  Scherr then had another service ace to make it 11-5.  The Mavericks then regularly traded two points for one to build a 21-17 lead and finished off the set with a 4-0 run, featuring yet another Scherr aces and kills by Reese and Smith.
 
The fourth set was tight in the early going before the Mavericks went on an 8-2 run to build a 15-7 advantage while cruising to the eventual victory.
 
The Mavericks will remain at home Saturday for a 4 p.m. tilt against Dixie State University (8-3, 3-0 RMAC), which came from two sets to one behind to pull win a 15-13 fifth-set decider over Western in Gunnison on Friday night.