TUCSON, Ariz.— The Colorado Mesa University Beach Volleyball team dropped their first two matches of the 2020 season on Friday falling to 13
th-ranked and host Arizona, 5-0 and then to Stephen F. Austin, 3-2 on Friday afternoon here on Day 1 play of the Arizona Invitational here at Bear Down Beach.
After failing to win a set against the highly-regarded Wildcats (5-0), the Mavericks built a 2-0 lead against the Ladyjacks, who rallied for wins in the final three matches, including one in three sets, to take the overall win.
Magdalena Dabrowski and
Macie Lachemann gave the Mavericks the early lead against Stephen F. Austin (4-2) with a 21-16, 21-14 win over Paige Schieferstein and Hailey Hunt at No. 2. CMU's
Ara Norwood and
Ashton Reese then came from behind to take the No. 4 match over Neena Perdue and Maren Wisener by a 14-21, 21-19, 15-7 margin.
However, SFA's Margaret Dean and Ariana Pagan squeaked out a 22-20, 21-19 win at No. 5 over
Kerstin Layman and
McKenna Palmer to begin the comeback. The Ladyjacks also took the No. 3 match and then claimed the overall win as Iris Fletcher and Corin Evans won in three sets (21-17, 18-21, 15-6) over CMU's
Holly Schmidt and
Maddi Foutz in the top flight.
The Mavericks had used the same lineup against Arizona. Dabrowski and Lachemann fared the best but were downed 21-10, 21-13 by Natalie Anselmo and Carly Lowry.
The Mavs will wrap-up the opening weekend of their season against another Pac-12 foe in Washington on Saturday at Noon.
Washington beat Stephen F. Austin, 5-0 on Friday morning.
