GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team squandered a 2-0 overall lead but then scored seven of the final nine points of the match to come back from an 11-8 deficit in the decisive fifth set to survive a massive scare from visiting Westminster College on Tuesday night in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks used some big statistical efforts in the 27-25, 25-12, 25-27, 20-25, 15-13 victory, which assured the Mavericks (19-5 overall, 14-3 RMAC) of a home match in the quarterfinal round of next week's RMAC Tournament.
 
Westminster (5-22, 3-14 RMAC) came into the match in a tie for last place in the RMAC standings but hung around to the bitter end of the 2-hour and 17-minute match, by far the closest in CMU's now 13-match and more than 6-year winning streak over the Griffins.
 
The Mavs put down a season-high 78 kills, the most they have had in a single match since 2007, and hit an impressive .322 in the win. 
 
Four different players were in double-figures for kills as redshirt freshman setter Sabrina VanDeList doled out a career-high 63 assists, the most of any Maverick player in more than five years (Ali Svorinic, 64; Oct. 14, 2016).  VanDeList also registered 14 digs to tally her eighth double-double of the year and chipped in four service aces as well.
 
Maverick outside hitters Sydney Leffler and Holly Schmidt had the biggest offensive nights.  Leffler recorded 20 kills and hit .302 while Schmidt recorded a season-high 18 kills while hitting .450 without a single hitting error.  She also put down the match-clinching kill and scored three of CMU's final four points.
 
Meanwhile, redshirt junior middle blocker Tye Wedhorn also recorded 15 kills, the most in the Maverick portion of her collegiate career, while hitting .519 with just one hitting error.  Gabrielle Vogt also recorded a dozen kills on the right side while Savannah Spitzer managed eight on .400 hitting in the middle.
 
Defensively, Kerstin Layman finished with 21 digs, 18 of which came in the final three sets.  Jordan Woods also added a career-high 17.
 
Westminster received 17 kills from Avery Alger and another 14 from Lydia Miller, while hitting .294 as a team.  Setter Bri Mortensen had 50 assists and 13 digs to match VanDeList's double-double while Sadie Babka had 17 digs from her libero position.
 
The Mavericks were lucky to a have the early lead as they overcame a set point at 24-23 in the opening set.  Leffler, who had six kills on .714 hitting in the opening frame, put down the set-tying kill and then had back-to-back smashes moments later giving CMU the opening frame victory.
 
The Mavericks, out-hit .485-.385 in the first set, were then dominant in the second.  They extended what was a tight 8-7 lead to 15-8 thanks to a 7-1 spurt.  The Griffins then pulled back to within 16-10, before the Mavericks then used a pair of 4-0 runs to win the frame. 
 
The third set was tight throughout and featured 14 ties and five lead changes.
 
One of those ties was at 18 before the Griffins went up 21-18 only to watch the Mavericks claw back to tie it at 22 on back-to-back Griffin hitting errors.
 
The Griffins then earned a pair of set points thanks to kills from Katie Jacox and Kenzy Christensen but watched the Mavs knot the set at 24 on a service error and Wedhorn kill.
 
After a Griffin timeout, Miller and Vogt exchanged kills before an Alger kill and Maverick setting error allowed the Griffins to take the set, 27-25.
 
The fourth set was also close and was tied at 18 after the Mavericks won a video replay challenge.  However, the Griffins recorded four service aces down the stretch to win the frame, 25-20 and force a fifth set.
 
In the fifth, CMU got out to 3-1 and 4-2 leads but saw Westminster go in front, 5-4 on three successive kills.
 
Spitzer, VanDeList and Leffler then put down consecutive kills for the Mavericks, who claimed a 7-5 advantage.
 
However, Westminster came back once again, and built an 11-8 lead.  Leffler then stepped up with a kill before two Griffin hitting errors tied the set at 11.
 
After giving up a kill to the Griffins to go down once again, 12-11, Schmidt and the Mavericks then roared back to take a 13-12 lead on consecutive Schmidt kills.  Spitzer then managed another to put CMU up, 14-12.
 
The Griffins were given a temporary reprieve on a Maverick hitting error down the right side line before Schmidt managed to record the match-clinching laser from the outside.
 
CMU is now guaranteed of at least the fourth seed in the RMAC Tournament and could move up to the No. 3 seed with a win on Friday night against the nation's 23^rd-ranked Regis University Rangers (19-5, 14-2 RMAC), who will try to spoil Senior Night festivities in what will be CMU's regular season finale.
 
Westminster will close out its season on Saturday afternoon against the Rangers in Salt Lake City.