GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Two teams with identical records looking for their 20^th win.  Two teams separated by just a half-match in the conference standings in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings.  Two teams looking to shore up already strong NCAA Tournament resumes. 
 
A nationally-ranked opponent on Senior Night. 
 
Add all that together and it's quite a recipe for a delicious treat.
 
That treat was so very sweet, especially for the taste buds of a Colorado Mesa University volleyball fans on Friday night in Brownson Arena.
 
In front a boisterous crowd and electric atmosphere, the host Mavericks were able to convert what was their fifth match point to close out the fourth set, 32-30 in an epic victory over the Regis University Rangers, who came into the night ranked 23^rd in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
 
The Mavericks, who came from 23-20 down to win the marathon fourth set, also came from behind in the first two frames, winning the second in extra points, 28-26, after taking the first, 25-23.
 
Claiming their 20^th win of the campaign for the sixth time under 17^th year coach Dave Fleming, the Mavericks (20-5 overall) secured the No. 3 seed in next week's RMAC Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 15-3 RMAC record and riding the ultimate momentum after claiming what was certainly their shiniest win of the season to date.
 
The Rangers (19-6, 14-3 RMAC), who had won the third set, 25-20, will now be the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament regardless of the result of their Saturday afternoon match at co-last place Westminster in Salt Lake City.  They will then host CSU Pueblo, assured of the fifth seed in the quarterfinal round of the RMAC Tournament on Tuesday.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks will entertain the No. 6 seed, which will be either Western Colorado or Colorado Christian, at 7 p.m. that evening.  In that match, they will be looking for their ninth straight home victory after falling to now national No. 1 MSU Denver in their RMAC and home-opener in September, the only blemish on what has been another fine season, especially at home, where they are 8-1 this year and 31-4 (.886) over the last four campaigns.
 
The Mavs will also be on the opposite side of the bracket from the top-ranked Roadrunners and with a quarterfinal win, could very well get a semifinal shot at avenging their only loss in the last 13 overall matches to the nation's 10^th-ranked Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, who will be the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Tournament.
 
On a grander scale, Friday's win should certainly help the Mavericks' case for a NCAA Tournament bid as well.
 
The Mavericks, who have made the tournament in four of the previous five 20-win seasons under Fleming and seven times overall under him, were ranked sixth in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings while the Rangers sat fourth.  Eight teams from the region, including the RMAC and Lone Star Conference Tournament champions, who will both earn automatic berths, will be selected to play in December.
 
Back to the treat, that was Friday's match.
 
Leading 2-1 overall and hoping to not have to go to a fifth set for the second time this week, the Mavericks trailed the fourth set, 16-13 after an unsuccessful video review challenge but rallied to go ahead 17-16 as four successive kills found the floor.  The Mavs then built that lead up to 20-17 lead before the Rangers surged ahead with a 6-0 run of their own to reverse the 3-point deficit into a 3-point lead at 23-20.
 
The Mavericks were unphased as Sydney Leffler, who had a team-high 14 kills on the night, triggered a 3-0 run, which also included a key block from Tye Wedhorn and Maranda Theleus, who delivered in a big way in her brief opportunities on the floor.
 
Holly Schmidt, honored before the match in Senior Night festivities, then tied the match with one of her 13 kills.
 
However, Halle Theis, who led all players with 16 kills, put down a kill for Regis to give the Rangers a set point at 24-23.
 
Theleus then blocked Theis to tie the set at 24 before Theis, who had six of her match-high kills in the fourth set alone, delivered another to give the Rangers a 25-24 lead.  Schmidt then answered with two consecutive kills giving the Mavericks their first match point at 25-24.
 
The Rangers would fight that and three more Maverick match points off and earned yet another set point of their own with a Rebecca Abrahamson service ace to go up 30-29.
 
However, the Mavericks went on to win the final three points of the night thanks on Leffler and Schmidt kills before Wedhorn and Theleus came up with the match-clinching tandem block as the Rangers could not keep the ball up.
 
The Mavericks had also trailed late in the first set and found themselves down 21-19 before going on a 5-1 run, featuring three kills from right side Gabrielle Vogt, to take a 24-22 lead on a Kerstin Layman service ace.  The redshirt freshman had seven kills in the opening frame alone and finished with 12 on the night.
 
Two points later, the Mavericks won the set on a Schmidt kill, one of her five in the opening set.
 
The Mavericks faced an even larger 4-point (22-18) deficit in the second after the Rangers had rallied from 16-12 down.
 
However, the Mavs again came up with the right ingredients in the late sages of the set as Leffler put down two kills and a solo block to force a Ranger timeout at 22-21.
 
A Wedhorn block, one of 11 the Mavs had on the night, then tied the set at 22.
 
The RMAC master chefs then exchanged the next eight points as the Rangers were able to stave off set three set points before back-to-back kills from an inspired Schmidt gave the Mavericks the 2-0 overall lead.
 
The Mavs also trailed by as many as four points in the third set at 20-16 and clawed to within one at 20-19 but could get no closer as the Rangers closed it out to force what was would be the thrilling fourth set.
 
Lost in the pandemonium were some big statistical efforts on both sides.
 
Maverick setter Sabrina VanDeList, who had a career-high 63 assists in Tuesday's win over Westminster, finished Friday's match with 57 more.  She also had a career-high 21 digs to lead the Mavericks while recording her team-leading ninth double-double.
 
Libero Kerstin Layman also tallied 19 digs while Jordan Woods finished with 15.  Fellow defensive specialist Libby Borgerding was also in double-figures with a career-high 11.
 
Wedhorn joined Leffler (14), Schmidt (13) and Vogt (12) in double figures with kills, putting down 12 of her own while hitting .393.  In the process, she surpassed the 500 career kill milestone in her collegiate career, which includes two years at Fort Lewis College and two with the Mavs.
 
She also recorded five blocks while Leffler had a career-high four.
 
The Rangers finished with slight 70-66 and 88-82 advantages in total kills and digs, respectively, as they had some big numbers as well.
 
Rachel Siurek and Caitlyn Burroway each finished with 15 kills to trail Theis by just one.  Abrahamson also tallied 12 kills on .360 hitting.
 
Ranger setter Mara LeGrand had 56 assists and 24 digs to record a double-double as did Burroway, who recorded 15 digs.  Libero Haley Kennedy also had 23 in the losing effort.