DENVER— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team saw its' 2021 season come to an end on Thursday afternoon as the Mavericks dropped a 4-set decision to the University of Texas-Tyler Patriots in the opening match of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament here at MSU Denver's Auraria Event Center.
 
The third-seeded Mavericks, who finish the campaign with a 21-7 record, lost a 21-17 and 23-21 third-set lead but rallied from 20-14 down in the fourth only to see the Patriots, seeded sixth, later score three of the final four points to take the 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory.
 
Outside hitter Holly Schmidt, playing what is expected to be her final career match, led the Mavericks with 16 kills, her second highest total of the season.  Fellow redshirt junior Tye Wedhorn, who does plan to return for a fifth season in 2022, added 12 along with five blocks.
 
Redshirt freshman Sabrina VanDeList tallied 44 assists while redshirt junior Kerstin Layman recorded 16 digs.  RMAC and AVCA South Central Region Freshman of the Year Sydney Leffler also added nine kills while Ashton Reese chipped in another eight, five of which were in the opening set.
 
National No. 22 UT-Tyler, which improved to 20-3, was paced by Mikayla Ware and Evelyn Torres.  Ware had 15 kills and 19 digs while Torres, also an outside hitter put down 13 kills.  Right side Christina Escamilla added nine kills on .529 hitting and a match-high six blocks.
 
All four sets were tight throughout as the Patriots proved to be slightly better in the closing stages of three of the four.
 
They hit .370 in the opening frame, which was tied on seven occasions, as Ware, Torres and Escamilla combined for four kills in a 5-3 set-closing run.
 
The Mavericks, who hit .344 in the first frame, then trailed 7-2 early in the second but came back to take a 13-10 lead behind the serving of Libby Borgerding and VanDeList as Ware made three consecutive hitting errors, the first of which was the result of a Reese block.
 
The Mavericks then hung on to a small lead through the rest of the set as the back half of a service error exchange, two Wedhorn kills and a Patriot ball handling error allowed the Mavericks to close out the set after leading by just one (21-20).
 
The Mavs then held a 9-6 third-set lead but watched the Patriots come back to take a 13-12 lead.  The set was then tied at 13, 14, 15 and 17 as the two regional heavyweights went toe-to-toe.
 
The Mavericks then surged ahead into a 21-17 lead as fifth-year senior Ara Norwood, who also played her final career match, came in to serve while recording an assist as well.
 
However, the Patriots came back to record the next four straight points, two of which came via blocks to forge a 21-21 tie.
 
VanDeList then recorded a kill on a joust at the net before Leffler blocked UT-Tyler's Hattie Murray to give the Mavericks a 23-21 lead.  However, the Patriots scored the final four points to claim the go-ahead set, which included 12 ties and four lead changes, thanks in large part to a key Ware ace and Torres kill.
 
In the fourth, the Mavericks held an 8-6 lead but quickly fell behind 16-10.
 
They still trailed by the same 6-point margin at 20-14 but then stormed back to eventually force a 22-22 dead-lock  as Schmidt put down three kills in an 8-2 spurt.
 
Coming out of a Patriot timeout, Ware then put down a kill that was reviewed on video replay, before a Maverick hitting error gave the Patriots a pair of match points.
 
The Mavericks were able to fight off the first thanks to a Wedhorn kill but could not remain alive as Ware finished the Mavericks off.
 
UT-Tyler hit .257 as a team throughout the match, recording 60 kills, four more than Mavericks' 56.  CMU hit .219 as a team as VanDeList led the Mavericks' with a personal mark of .444 while recording a career-high four kills.  She also had half (3) of CMU's six aces. 
 
Wedhorn also hit .357.
 
Defensively, the Mavericks out-blocked the Patriots, 11-7 as Wedhorn (5), Caroline Pung (4) and Reese (4) all had strong blocking efforts.