GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After claiming their first two wins over a Pac-12 Conference opponent in program history two weeks ago, the Colorado Mesa University Beach Volleyball team will resume their season with four matches in two days in southern California this week.
 
On Monday, the Mavericks (2-3) will face The Master's and CSUN in a tri-dual in Northridge, playing at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. PDT (11 a.m./3 p.m. Mountain) .  They then will play another tri-dual at Concordia-Irvine and against nationally-ranked Long Beach State on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. PDT (9:30 a.m./11:30 a.m. Mountain) at Great Park in Irvine.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks recorded their first two wins of the campaign and their first two wins in program history over a Pac-12 opponent on Mar. 6 when they swept a home doubleheader against Utah.  The Mavericks on the first match 3-2 and then took second 5-0 after winning a trio of 3-set matches.
 
The No. 2, 4 and 5 pairs all went 2-0 during the day.
 
CMU also won a pair of exhibition matches against the Utes.
 
Triple Winner-Winners
 
The No. 2 duo of Macie Lachemann and Savannah Spitzer, the No. 4 pair of Ara Norwood and Tye Wedhorn and the No. 5 pairing of Ashton Reese and Sabrina VanDeList all went 2-0 on the day against the Utes.
 
Lachemann and Spitzer defeated Utah's Keana Smalls and Grace Andrews in both matches.  The Maverick duo won the first match, 21-18, 21-19 and then came from a set down to win the afternoon encounter by a 15-13 margin.
 
Norwood and Wedhorn won both of their matches in straight sets, posting a 21-19, 22-20 win Utah's pair of Mia Kowalczyk and Joana Saucedo Mondragon in the first match before posting a more comfortable 21-14, 21-12 win in the nightcap.
 
Reese and VanDeList, playing together for the first time, won 21-18, 21-16 in their first match against Utah's Kaiya Liwanag and Hannah Stahle before cruising to a 21-11, 21-11 second win.
 
First-time winners
 
Five different Maverick players all claimed their first career beach wins against the Utes.  The all-freshman duo of Sierra Hunt and Hahni Johnson won their second No. 3 match against Utah.  Wedhorn, a new member of the Maverick squad also claimed her first two wins with Norwood while VanDeList, a freshman also tasted victory for the first time.  Maddi Foutz also won her first career beach match while playing with Holly Schmidt in the No. 1 flight.
 
Approaching the record
 
Meanwhile, Norwood, a senior, tallied her 16^th and 17^th career victories against the Utes, moving to within one of the Maverick all-time record of 18, currently held by Katie Scherr (2017-19), a mark that could very well fall this week.
 
Double Figures
 
Holly Schmidt, a redshirt sophomore, became just the seventh Maverick in program history to reach double-figures for beach wins when she and Foutz defeated Utah's Sage Patchell and Marissa Koch by a 21-19, 14-21, 15-13 margin in the second No. 1 flight match of the Mar. 6 doubleheader.  Schmidt also has the second best career winning percentage in CMU Beach Volleyball history at .455 (10-12).
 
Here's a look at the seven Mavericks to reach 10 wins in the program's 6-year history.

1. Katie Scherr-18 (2017-19)
2. Ara Norwood-17 (2018-21)
3. Taylor Woods-15 (2016-18)
T4. Samantha Ritter-13 (2017-19)
T4. Hana Peterman-13 (2016-18)
T4. Megan Gianinetti-13 (2016-18)
7. Holly Schmidt-10 (2019-20)
 
Spring Pilgrimage
 
This week's trip to southern California will mark the fifth time that the Mavericks will have made the trip to the Golden State in their program history.  The Mavs were also scheduled to have done so in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled a majority of last year's season. 
 
To date, the Mavericks have played 26 matches in southern California throughout their beach volleyball history, going a combined 7-19 thus far.  Here's a look at the Mavs' annual record there.

• 2016 (0-3)
• 2017 (3-4)
• 2018 (2-8)
• 2019 (2-4)
• 2020 (0-0; 6 matches canceled)

About The Master's
 
The Mustangs, who are members of the NAIA, are 3-9 overall entering Monday's tri-dual.  They have dropped seven straight matches overall and are 3-3 in Golden State Athletic Conference play.
 
The Mustangs' top flight duo of Desi Brown and Katie Emmerling has put together an impressive season.  They are 10-2.  Caihannah-Jane Catabona and Gwen Garate are the only Mustang pair with a winning record.  They are 3-1 together in the No. 4 spot.
 
The Mustangs and Mavericks do have one common opponent in Utah, which defeated the Mustangs on their home sand in Santa Clarita, California by a 3-2 score.
 
The Mavericks and Mustangs have never faced each other before.
 
About CSUN
 
The Matadors will enter Monday's tri-dual with 3-4 overall record after getting out to a 3-1 start.  They dropped both ends of a doubleheader against No. 7 Loyola Marymount on Thursday before falling by the same 5-0 score to Boise State on Saturday.  All seven of the Matadors' matches have been played at home.
 
The Mavericks and Matadors have played each other four times, all in Northridge.  CSUN has won all four previous meetings.  The last three have been decided by 4-1 scores.  They were also due to play last year before the season was canceled just days before the scheduled Mar. 18, 2020 meeting.
 
About Concordia-Irvine
 
The Eagles are 2-3 on the year, but all three losses have come to teams ranked in the nation's top 10.  They fell to No. 8 California and No. 7 Loyola Marymount to begin the season before bouncing back with 4-1 and 3-2 wins over The Master's and CSUN on Mar. 12.  They then dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 8 Pepperdine earlier Sunday.
 
Tuesday's meeting will be the fifth between the Mavericks and Eagles.  The teams split 3-2 decision in 2017 while the Eagles won matches in 2016 and 2018.
 
About Long Beach State
 
The Beach will enter Tuesday's tri-dual with a 4-6 overall record.  They are currently ranked 18^th nationally and all six of their losses have come against nationally-ranked squads.  They also hold a win over then No. 19 Stanford back on Feb. 26.
 
Their last action was on Friday when they swept a tri-dual against Boise State and Utah.  They won those matches by 4-1 and 5-0 margins. 
 
Skyler Germann and Alice Pratesi have the best record on the team at 7-2.  They have played mostly at the No. 4 position, going 7-1 in that flight.  The No. 1 duo of Mari Molina and Tyler Spriggs are also a solid 5-5 and won both of their matches on Friday.
 
The Mavericks have played the Beach three times previously.  All three meetings have come in Long Beach and were decided by 5-0 scores.
 
Up Next
 
After this weekend's trip, the Mavericks will resume their beach season on Apr. 2-3 when they compete in the Arizona Invitational in Tucson.  The Mavericks will play Missouri State, Pepperdine, Grand Canyon and UC-Davis at that tournament.