GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team and players put up some big numbers to outlast visiting Black Hills State University in a 4-set (23-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-22) come-from-behind Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over Friday night in Brownson Arena.
 
Led by 21 kills from freshman outside hitter Sydney Leffler and another 12 off the bench from redshirt freshman right side Gabrielle Vogt, the Mavericks improved to 12-4 overall and to 7-2 in the RMAC with their fourth straight victory.
 
BHSU, which surrendered a 5-point first set lead only to come back to take five of the final six points of and the opening frame, fell to 5-12 overall and to 2-7 in conference play.
 
The Mavericks recorded 58 kills as a team while out-hitting the Yellow Jackets, .239 to .043 but also fell victim to 12 service errors and the same number of 'Jacket blocks as the visitors proved to be pesky as their mascot would imply. 
 
BHSU managed just 33 kills as a team although Mariah Robinson recorded ten on .450 to lead the visitors' cause.  Peyton Bodemann, who had seven, and Sierra Ward, who recorded six, were also strong in the blocking game for the Yellow Jackets.
 
Meanwhile, Maverick redshirt freshman Sabrina VanDeList, the reigning RMAC Setter of the Week, finished with a career-high 50 assists.
 
She had a multitude of go-to hitters as Vogt came up with her biggest match of the season, hitting .409. 
 
Leffler had 12 kills and just one hitting error in the final two sets to record the second highest kill total of her young career.
 
VanDeList and middle hitter Savannah Spitzer also started clicking, especially in the fourth set as the Mavericks withstood a late challenge to close out the match.  Spitzer was 4-for-4 in the fourth set and finished with 11 kills on .500 hitting.  She also had four blocks.
 
Fellow Maverick middle Tye Wedhorn also recorded eight kills and matched a season-high with six blocks, including three solo efforts.
 
Kerstin Layman finished with 16 digs to lead the CMU back-row while Ashton Reese tallied 11.
 
In the opening set, the visitors gradually built an 18-13 lead and still led 20-16 before the Mavericks used a 6-0 run, featuring a pair of Jordan Woods aces, two Spitzer kills and a block to surge in front, 22-20.
 
However, a Woods service error stopped the Mavs' momentum as the Yellow Jackets scored the next four points to go back in front, 24-22, before eventually winning the set on an exchange of kills from Spitzer and Kindra Cerrone.
 
BHSU recorded five blocks and held the Mavs to .075 hitting in that opening set but were shell-shocked by a 11-4 Maverick start in the second.  The Mavs were never challenged again, at least in that set, building to the 12-point margin of victory while hitting .303. 
 
Balance was the key as four different Mavs, including Vogt, who had four, put down three or more kills in the second set alone.
 
The Mavericks were even better offensively in the third, hitting at a .333 clip as Leffler put down six kills on seven attempts while Vogt recorded five more on nine swings to lead the charge.
 
Enjoying the slimmest of leads at 14-13 in the third, the Mavericks then used a 5-0 run to seize control as Wedhorn put down a smash followed by a tip kill to punctuate the run, which proved to be enough as the Mavs went ahead by as man as seven (22-15) on a VanDeList ace before splitting the finals six points to take the third set.
 
The Mavericks then jumped out to a 7-0 fourth-set lead and appeared to be cruising to the victory before the pesky Yellow Jackets roared back with a 6-0 run that included three Cerrone aces.  They eventually tied the set at 11 and again at 12 but could not take the lead as a Vogt kill and back-to-back BHSU hitting errors helped the Mavericks build a 3-point advantage (15-12).
 
The Mavs then built the lead to six at 21-15 but again watched the Yellow Jackets come right back to tie the set at 22.
 
However, kills by Wedhorn and Sierra Hunt surrounding one of nine fourth-set BHSU hitting errors, allowed the Mavericks to finally put the match away.
 
CMU will remain at home on Saturday taking on South Dakota Mines in a 4 p.m. match.  The Hardrockers made quick work of Westminster in Salt Lake City, Utah taking a 3-set (25-19, 25-14, 26-24) victory to snap a 3-match slide and improve to 9-8 overall and to 3-6 in the RMAC.