GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The regionally-ranked Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will wrap up the regular season with two  home matches and hopes of securing another home date in the post season.
 
The Mavericks, now 18-5 overall and 13-3 in the RMAC after a road weekend split that snapped what was a 10-match winning streak, will host Westminster College on Tuesday before taking on No. 23 Regis University on Friday.  Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. in Brownson Arena and tickets are on sale. 
 
Senior Night festivities will precede Friday's match.
 
A live stream for both matches can also be seen on the RMAC Network and live statistics can be accessed at the link above.
 
Westminster is 5-21 overall and 3-13 in RMAC play, tied for 14th place in the RMAC standings.  Regis is 19-5 overall and 14-2 in the RMAC standings, good for a tie for second place.
 
Where Things Stand
 
After defeating Chadron State on Friday and falling to then No. 11 and now tenth-ranked Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, the Mavericks are now in fourth place in the RMAC standings, sandwiched in between, Regis, Mines and CSU Pueblo.  All 15 RMAC teams will play their final two regular season matches this week.
 
The Mavericks trail Mines and Regis, both of which are 14-2 in RMAC play, by a match. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are a match ahead of CSU Pueblo, currently 12-4 in the RMAC standings.
 
A victory in either match this week would guarantee the Mavericks a top-4 seed and a home match in the quarterfinal round of next week's 8-team RMAC Tournament thanks to first tie-breaker, by virtue of a 5-set head-to-head victory over CSU Pueblo on Oct. 23.  If the Mavericks are able to win both of this week's matches, they would move to the No. 3 seed ahead of Regis, again thanks to a head-to-head win.
 
The Mavericks would be the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Tournament only if they win both matches and Mines loses both of theirs at South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State.
 
National No. 1 MSU Denver, a perfect 16-0 in RMAC play, has already clinched at least a share of the RMAC's regular season title and the No. 1 seed and could win the title outright as soon as Thursday, when they host CSU Pueblo.
 
CSU Pueblo is assured of at least the No. 5 seed, but could leap to fourth with wins at MSU Denver and Colorado Christian combined with two Maverick losses.  Western Colorado, currently 8-8 in RMAC play, has clinched a tournament spot and will land somewhere between the No. 6 and 8 seeds.  Colorado Christian is in good position for a spot as well at 7-9 and in seventh place while Fort Lewis is 6-10 and currently occupies the No. 8 spot in the RMAC standings.  Four other teams (South Dakota Mesa, Adams State, UCCS and New Mexico Highlands) are lurking right behind the Skyhawks at 5-11 while Black Hills State is 4-12 and mathematically, but barely alive.
 
The top four seeds will host quarterfinal matches next Tuesday (Nov. 16).  The semifinals and championship match will then be played next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 19-20) at the site of the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal round.
 
The RMAC Tournament winner will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament while other teams will be hoping for one of the six available at-large berths from the South Central Region.  The Lone Star Conference Tournament Champion will also receive an automatic berth.
 
Sitting Sixth
 
The Mavericks were in the No. 6 spot of the initial set of NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings, which will eventually determine the at-large selections and seeding for the region's portion of the NCAA Tournament.  Eight teams from the region will qualify, including the two conference tournament champions.
 
The rankings will be updated on each of the next two Wednesdays before the official selections are announced on Monday, Nov. 22.
 
National poll No. 1 MSU Denver led the rankings while Mines occupied the No. 2 spot.  Angelo State was ranked third while Regis was ranked fourth. 
 
Texas-Tyler, now tied with Angelo at 14-1 in the LSC standings is ranked fifth while West Texas A&M was ranked seventh in the initial set of rankings, a spot behind the Mavericks.  The Lady Buffs lost to ninth-ranked Lubbock Christian on Saturday after falling to Angelo State on Friday.
 
CSU Pueblo, which went 2-0 last week, was ranked eighth while Texas A&M-Commerce rounded out the top 10 rankings.  The Lions lost their only match of last week to UT-Tyler.
 
The Mavericks also continue to be listed in the "others receiving votes" category of the latest AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, released Monday afternoon as is West Texas A&M, which dropped from the No. 25 spot in the previous poll.
 
The South Central Region, one of the deepest in the country, has five teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25, including three in the top ten.  MSU Denver continues to lead the poll while Angelo State is still ranked sixth.  Mines moved back into the top 10 in the No. 10 spot of the poll after Saturday while Texas Tyler moved up three spots in the poll to 13^th.  Regis moved up one spot to No. 23.
 
Senior Night
 
The Mavericks will recognize two of their student-athletes— setter Ara Norwood and outside hitter Holly Schmidt— prior to Friday's match against Regis during Senior Night Festivities.  Norwood took advantage of the automatic COVID-related eligibility waiver to come back for her fifth season this fall while Schmidt, in her fourth season as a Maverick, plans to continue her academic pursuits in the radiological technology program, which will prevent her from returning for a fifth volleyball season in the fall of 2022.
 
Norwood has played in 104 matches and 331 sets to date, earning a pair of Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors (2018, 2019) while being a key part of both a RMAC Regular Season (Spring 2021) and RMAC Tournament (2018) title-winning team.  The Ridgeway, Colorado native was also named to the RMAC All-Tournament team in 2018.
 
In her career, Norwood has recorded 1,635 assists and 61 service aces, both of which are team-leading marks.  She also has 614 career digs.
 
Schmidt, was a Second Team All-RMAC selection during the spring season and like Norwood has won both a RMAC regular season and tournament title.  The Castle Rock, Colorado native has registered 383 kills and 320 digs in her career and ranks third on this year's team in both categories.  She has played in 64 matches and 194 sets in her CMU career to date.
 
Both Mavericks have also excelled in the classroom and have earned a combined seven RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll spots throughout their CMU careers.
 
They also co-hold CMU's single-season record for beach volleyball wins (9) as playing partners in the spring of 2019.  Norwood is also CMU's career beach wins record holder with 22.
 
Layman joins the 1K club
 
As expected, Maverick redshirt junior libero Kerstin Layman became just the 18^th Maverick in program history to reach the 1,000 career dig milestone on Friday.  She entered Friday's match at Chadron State with 993 career digs and recorded 10 against the Eagles to eclipse the milestone.  She then recorded eight more digs against Mines on Saturday and now has 1,011 career digs to her credit.
 
Layman, a Second Team All-RMAC selection in the spring and an honorable mention honoree in 2019, now has 361 digs this season and ranks third in the RMAC for digs per set at 4.35.
 
CMU's other 1,000 career dig club members include: Amy Miller (2,542), Taylor Woods (2,080), Pam Glenn (1,783), Ashley Loftsgard (1,578), Megan Rush (1,409), Drew Choules (1,331), Jenny Day (1,293), Stacey Vogel (1,281), Phyllis Jennings (1,191), Kate Matthews (1,145), Kelly Beer (1,139), Michelle Mather (1,128), Lindy Casselman (1,127), Jeanie Sutter (1,115), Nikki Kneuer (Green) (1,081), Sarah Francis (1,076) and Terene Foutz (1,018).
 
Double-figure win streak
 
With Friday's 3-set sweep at Chadron State, the Mavericks' winning streak reached 10 matches and was their second double-figure winning streak of the calendar year.  The Mavs, who saw their winning streak come to an end on Saturday at Mines, had won their first 15 matches of the spring season, going 15-1 overall.
 
Eagle Domination
 
With Friday's win over Chadron State, the Mavericks have now won 27 straight matches against the Eagles since 1995.  Maverick Head Coach Dave Fleming is now a perfect 17-0 in his coaching career with the Eagles.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
With wins over Western Colorado and Fort Lewis on Oct. 29 and 30, the Mavericks improved to 6-1 at home this season.  Their only home loss came to now national poll No. 1 MSU Denver in the home-opener on Sept. 16.
 
The home-court success is nothing new as the Mavs went 6-1 at home during the 2021 spring season and are 65-12 (.844) at home over the past eight seasons since the start of 2014.
 
In the fall of 2019, the Mavs went 8-1 after going 9-1 in Brownson Arena during the 2018 campaign.
 
In the past four seasons, the Mavericks have won 29 of their 33 home matches, good for an .879 winning percentage, losing at home just once each season.
 
The Mavs were also 9-1 at home in 2015 before posting 6-3 home-court records in both 2016 and 2017.  CMU was also an impressive 15-1 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 ten seasons since and including 2012, going 80-21 (.792) at home in that that span.
 
Two from 20 in a 33-win year
 
The Mavericks will be gunning for their 19^th and 20^th wins of the season this week.
 
The Mavericks have reached that mark five times under Head Coach Dave Fleming, most recently in 2018, when they went 24-7.  They have reached the NCAA Tournament in four of those 20-win campaigns (2005, 2013, 2014, 2018)
 
The Mavericks have also posted 33 wins during this calendar year, going a combined 33-6 (.846) during the spring and fall seasons.
 
On the hunt for 500
 
Maverick junior middle blocker Tye Wedhorn enters this weekend just 25 kills shy of 500 for her collegiate and RMAC career.  Wedhorn, who is now second on the Maverick squad for kills this season with 171, recorded 304 in two seasons at Fort Lewis in 2018 and 2019 before transferring to CMU in the fall of 2020.
 
The Glenwood Springs, Colorado native, who made two brief appearances for CMU in the spring season, also ranks fifth in the RMAC for hitting percentage at .345 and seventh in the conference for blocks with a per-set average of 0.93 this campaign.  She has 71 blocks in total this year and 211 in her collegiate career, including 40 block solos.
 
300 & Counting
 
With CMU's RMAC Tournament Quarterfinal win over UCCS on Apr. 8, Maverick Head Coach Dave Fleming became just the fifth of now six coaches in RMAC history to reach 300 career wins while coaching in the league.  Fleming, who is just the fourth head coach in the program's history, which celebrated its' 35^th season last spring, was also named as the RMAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time after leading the Mavericks to a 15-1 record in the spring.
 
Now in his 17^th season, Fleming is 318-164, good for a .660 winning percentage.  His 318 career wins are the most of any active RMAC Coach and his tenure is equal to the longest in the conference amongst active coaches.
 
The success is nothing new for Fleming, who has led the Mavericks to seven NCAA Division II National Tournament berths, three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament titles (2014, 2018, 2021-Spring), a 2014 RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles and three RMAC West Division crowns (2005, 2009, 2010).

The Mavericks have had winning campaigns in all but one of his seasons and his teams have reached the 20-win mark five times, including in 2018, when they went 24-7 while winning the RMAC Tournament title and advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA South Central Regional.  Fleming was also named as the RMAC Co-Coach of the Year that year after earlier earning that honor outright in 2009 and 2014.

The 2014 team went 29-4, won the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles and hosted the South Central Regional portion of the NCAA Division II Tournament while advancing to the regional final.
 
About Westminster

The Griffins enter Tuesday's match with a 5-21 overall record and are 3-13 in RMAC play.  They have lost three straight and six out of their last seven matches and have gone just 1-10 on the road.
Junior outside hitter Lydia Parkinson (Miller) leads the team with 228 kills (2.24/set) while hitting .150.  Four other Griffins also have more than 100 kills, including sophomore outside hitter Olivia Curtis, who has 194, and freshman middle blocker Avery Alger, who has a .290 attack percentage, the best of the regular swingers on third-year head coach Karrin Moore's squad.
 
Alger, who ranks 11^th in the RMAC for attack percentage, also leads a balanced blocking squad with 55 rejections while Malinda Messner and Kenzy Christensen are tied for second on the team with 47 blocks a piece.
 
Bri Mortensen leads the team with 612 assists while playing in 88 of the Griffins' 102 total sets and stands eighth in the RMAC with her 6.95 per set average.  She had a career-high 53 assists in Westminster's last outing, a 5-set road defeat at Chadron State on Saturday.
 
Katie Jacox also has 272 assists and leads the team with 33 service aces (0.32/set) to rank 14^th in the RMAC in that category.
 
Alanna Lee leads the team with 376 digs (3.80/set) to stand tenth in the RMAC while Alger (265) and Mortensen (221) are well over 200 as well.
 
The Griffins have played in seven 5-set matches this season and are 4-3 in those.
 
They rank 11^th in the RMAC for team attack percentage (.162) and 14^th for opponent hitting percentage (.245).
 
About Regis
 
The nation's 23^rd-ranked Rangers have won three straight and 14 out of their last 15 matches and are currently in a tie for second place in the RMAC standings at 14-2.  They have a 19-5 overall record and were ranked fourth in the initial set of NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings.
 
Four of their five losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' poll.
 
Reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week Caitlyn Burroway leads the RMAC with 314 kills and her 3.53 per set average.  She put down 35 of those in last weekend's wins over Adams State and New Mexico Highlands.  The graduate student outside hitter from League City, Texas has been a First Team All-RMAC selection in each of her four previous seasons with the Rangers and has tallied 1,519 career kills and 1,627 career digs to date.  Her kill total is the seventh highest amongst active Division II players nation-wide.  She also ranks second on the Ranger squad with 289 digs this season, good for a 3.25 per set average.
 
Senior right side Rachel Siurek (217, 2.58/set) and sophomore pin-hitter Halle Theis (191, 2.27/set) are also averaging more than two kills per set.  Junior Nadine Burbrink has a RMAC co-leading 94 blocks to her credit, good for a 1.11 per set average that has her ranked second in the conference.  The German also has put down 168 kills (1.98/set) and is hitting a team-best .275 from her middle blocker position.  She is 15^th in the RMAC for attack percentage.

Ranger junior setter Mara LeGrand has tallied 956 assists, good for a 10.62 per set average that is second best in the RMAC.  She has been named as the RMAC Setter of the Week on four occasions this season and seven times in her career.  She was also a First Team All-RMAC pick in the spring.
 
Junior libero Haley Kennedy leads the Rangers in both digs (344, 4.00/set) and service aces (35, 0.41/set) and stands seventh and sixth in the RMAC statistics with her per set averages in those respective categories.
 
As a team, the Rangers are hitting  .209 to rank sixth in the RMAC.  Their opponents are hitting just .157, the second average in the conference.  They also rank fifth in the RMAC for blocking (2.03/set) and sixth for aces (1.50/set).
 
After they face the Mavericks on Friday, Regis will end the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Westminster before opening the RMAC Tournament at home, where they are 10-1 this season.  Fifth-year head coach Joel List's teams is vulnerable away from home, going 6-3 in road matches so far this year.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks are 14-1 all-time against Westminster and sport a 12-1 record against the Griffins, since they joined the RMAC in 2015.  One of those wins came in straight sets on Sept. 17 of this season in Salt Lake City.
 
The Mavs, who are looking to complete their sixth straight season sweep of their RMAC travel partners, have also won 12 straight matches over the Griffins and are a perfect 7-0 against them in Grand Junction.  Six of those home matches have been determined in straight set sweeps.  Ten of the matches in the current CMU domination streak have been sweeps as well.
 
Like the Mavs, Fleming is 14-1 against Westminster in his coaching career and is 5-0 against Karrin Moore.
 
Meanwhile, Regis leads the Division II era (1992-Present) series history 23-16 over the Mavs, who have won both of the last two home matches against the Rangers and two out of the last three overall.  Regis had won the previous five meetings in 2016 and 2017.
 
Fleming is 11-14 against the Rangers in his coaching tenure and is 2-3 against fifth-year Ranger head coach Joel List.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks are one of three RMAC teams that will conclude their regular season on Friday while the other 12 will wrap it up on Saturday.  The RMAC will then announce the bracket for next week's conference tournament.