GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After spending a weekend on the road and having another unexpectedly off after postponements, the now nation's seventh-ranked Colorado Mesa University Maverick volleyball team will return to action on Friday when they host Colorado Christian University in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match at 1 p.m. inside Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks were also slated to play host to Westminster College in a 3-team pod on Friday, but the Griffins have pulled out of that pod due to COVID-19 related protocols.
 
The Mavericks are working with Westminster on scheduling a make-up date for that match.
 
Fan Attendance
 
A limited number of fans will be admitted to Friday's contest, but only under the following protocols.

• Tickets are only available to Student Athlete's Families (from both institutions) & CMU Community (Faculty/Staff/Students).  All tickets must be purchased/reserved through www.cmumavericks.com/tickets in advance (no ticket sales at the door).
• All fans must be COVID-19 tested no more than 96 hours prior to the contests and must show proof of a negative test prior to being admitted into the contest.
• Guests who have tested positive in the previous 90 days and exhibit no symptoms must present evidence of the positive test in lieu of above testing requirement
• All fans must have a ticket & each ticket will be tied to a name, phone number, and email should contact tracing be necessary
• Masks must be worn at all times & fans must maintain social distancing when possible.

The match will also be streamed on the RMAC Network and live statistics can be accessed here.
 
Record-tying ranking
 
Off to a 4-0 start, the Mavericks leapt up 13 spots and are now ranked seventh in the latest edition of the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll that was released on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
The No. 7 ranking matches CMU's highest ever in the poll, a level they last reached on Nov. 17, 2014 during their 29-4 season.  CMU was ranked 20^th in last week's poll.
 
The Mavericks have now been ranked amongst the nation's top 25 teams a total of 26 times in their Division II history, including for 11 weeks during the 2014 season.
 
It should be noted that only teams that have played at least one match this spring are eligible to be ranked in the poll, which now includes six Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, including three in the top eight.
 
Hillsdale, which is 5-0 now leads the poll with 1,132 points and 36 of the 41 first place votes.   Lewis and Angelo State are ranked second and third while 5-0 MSU Denver is now tabbed fourth with 991 points and one first place vote to lead the RMAC contingent.  Rockhurst rounds out the top five despite suffering one loss in three matches while Missouri St.-Louis is now sixth.
 
The Mavericks have 869 points while RMAC rival Colorado School of Mines (3-1) is eighth in the poll with 804 points.  Regis (1-2) is now ranked 17^th after moving up from No. 24 in the first regular season edition.  The Mavericks swept a season-opening match over Regis on Jan. 24.
 
Other ranked teams from the RMAC include UCCS (2-2), which is ranked 22^nd, and Black Hills State, ranked 23^rd.  CSU Pueblo is also receiving votes and was listed on two more ballots.  The Mavericks also defeated the ThunderWolves on Jan. 24.
 
Postponements
 
The Mavericks were slated to play in a 3-time RMAC pod last Saturday at Chadron State but were forced to postpone RMAC matches against the host Eagles and CSU Pueblo, which was also due to be at the pod due to COVID-19 protocols.  CMU is working with those institutions on rescheduling those matches as is now the case as well with Westminster, which was slated to be involved in this Friday's pod.
 
Two weeks, two honors
 
After CMU senior outside hitter Maddi Foutz was named as the RMAC's initial Offensive Player of the Week on Jan. 27, junior libero Emily Tucker received a similar honor last Tuesday as she was tabbed as the Week No. 2 RMAC Defensive Player of the Week.
 
Tucker lead the Mavericks with 31 digs (3.44/set) and eight service aces (0.89/set) in a pair of Jan. 30 wins over Northwest Nazarene and Westminster in Salt Lake City.  Against Northwest Nazarene, she had 13 digs and four aces in the 5-set win over the Nighthawks.  She then set a new career-high with 18 digs while tallying four more aces in a 4-set win over Westminster.
 
She also had a career-high 10 assists in the win over Northwest Nazarene to record her first career double-double.
 
Speaking of double-doubles
 
Tucker was one of five Mavericks who had double-doubles in the come-from-behind win over Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 30.  Three of the same Mavericks in setters Ara Norwood and Sabrina VanDeList and outside hitter Maddi Foutz also recorded double-doubles in the evening match over the Westminster Griffins.
 
VanDeList's were the first two of her career.
 
In the balanced attack that has been the hallmark of the Mavericks early this season, five different Mavericks have combined to register 11 double-doubles this year.
 
In 2019, the Mavericks had 18 combined double-doubles from three players throughout their entire 17-10 season.
 
Here's a look at all of the double-doubles recorded in their last action.
 
Vs. Northwest Nazarene

Maddi Foutz- 13 kills, 16 digs*
Ara Norwood- 20 assists, 13 digs
Holly Schmidt- 10 kills, 11 digs
Emily Tucker- 10 assists*, 13 digs
Sabrina VanDeList- 25 assists*, 17 digs*
 
Vs. Westminster

Foutz- 14 kills*, 12 digs
Norwood- 22 assists, 11 digs
VanDeList, 25 assists*, 11 digs

*-New or matching career-high
 
Emily "Ace"-er
 
Emily Tucker has recorded 14 service aces so far this season, the second most of any player in all of NCAA Division II so far this spring.  Her average of 0.88 per set ranks her seventh nationally and leads the RMAC.
 
As a team, the Mavericks have recorded a RMAC-leading 33 service aces so far in 2021, the tenth highest total in the national statistics.  They rank 13^th in aces per set (2.06).
 
Other lofty rankings
 
The Mavericks also stand third in the country for kills per set (14.75), fifth for hitting percentage (.255) and third for assists per set (13.19) so far in 2021.  They lead the RMAC in each of those categories.
 
A total of 85 NCAA Division II teams have played at least one match through Tuesday (Feb. 9).
 
Underclassmen on the Attack
 
Sophomore middle blocker Savannah Spitzer and freshman right side hitter Gabrielle Vogt both had what was undoubtedly the best day of their young careers on Jan. 30 in the victories over Northwest Nazarene and Westminster.
 
Spitzer tallied 22 kills while hitting a combined .513 in the two wins, committing just one hitting error in each.  She also had seven blocks and set new career-bests for kills (12), blocks (4) and hitting percentage (.550) in the win over Westminster.
 
Vogt has now been in double-figures for kills in three straight matches.  She recorded a career-high 14 against Northwest Nazarene before putting down another dozen against Westminster.  She also had six blocks on the day, including four in the earlier match against the Nighthawks.  Vogt is second on the team with 43 kills this season while Spitzer paces the squad with her .462 hitting percentage, which ranks her second in the RMAC and fifth in the country.  She also leads the Mavericks with 10 blocks.
 
Leading killer
 
Senior outside hitter Maddi Foutz recorded 27 kills on Saturday and now has 50 on the season.  She has been in double figures in all four matches this season and co-leads the team alongside setter Ara Norwood with three double-doubles as well.  Foutz is sixth in the RMAC for kills per set (3.12).
 
Stronger as we go along
 
The Mavericks are a perfect 8-0 in the third, fourth and fifth sets combined this year.  The Mavs, who are 2-2 in both the first and second sets this year, have won the third set in all four of their matches and have closed out two of their four wins in the fourth set.  They also came from 2-0 down to Northwest Nazarene to win the Jan. 30 5-set match against the Nighthawks.
 
Consistent point-scorers

The Mavericks have scored at least 20 points in all 16 sets they have played, including the four that they have dropped.  Two of those set losses have come in "overtime" by 26-24 margins.  The Mavs also have three extra-point set wins, including 27-25 victories in both matches on Jan. 30 and another 29-27 third set win over CSU Pueblo on Jan. 24.
 
RMAC's winningest coach
 
Maverick Head Coach Dave Fleming is in his 16^th season with the Mavericks and is the winningest active RMAC Coach with 289 career victories. He is 289-158 in his previous 15 seasons, good for a .647 winning percentage.  His tenure is equal to the longest in the RMAC, amongst active coaches.
 
In his time at CMU, Fleming has guided the Mavericks to seven NCAA Division II National Tournament berths, two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament titles (2014, 2018), 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, most recently in 2018, when they went 24-7.  Fleming was also named as the RMAC Co-Coach of the Year last year in a vote of his peers.  He also earned that honor outright in 2009 and 2014.
 
About Colorado Christian
 
The Cougars have played one match but have had multiple other matches postponed so far this spring.  In their lone match played, the Cougars fell to the Colorado School of Mines in three sets (25-15, 25-19, 25-16).
 
Alli Douglas led the Cougars with nine kills while Maddie Burns tallied 22 assists.  Kristy Dick had three blocks while Christa Tucker led CCU with eight digs.
 
In the fall of 2019, the Cougars went 10-16 overall and 6-12 in conference play, finishing in a tie for 12th in the conference standings. 
 
They were picked eighth in this year's RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.   
 
Tucker was second on the CCU team for digs with 216 last year while Ashley Drye was second on last year's squad with 204 kills and 74 blocks.   Burns recorded 685 assists, good for a 9.51 per set average.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks hold a 20-14 series lead over the Cougars in their NCAA Division II era (1992-Present) winning three straight and six of the last seven matches against them.
 
The Mavs are 10-6 at home against the Cougars and have won four straight home matches with them dating back to 2015.  The Cougars last win in Brownson Arena was on Nov. 19, 2013 in the opening round of that year's RMAC Tournament.
 
Only one of the last eight matches has gone to five sets.
 
Up Next
 
After Friday's match, the Mavericks will continue their season on Saturday, Feb. 20 when they head to Rapid City, South Dakota for a 3-team pod, where they will face Fort Lewis and host South Dakota Mines at 2 and 5 p.m. that afternoon, respectively.