NORTHRIDGE, Calif.— Senior
Ara Norwood matched the Colorado Mesa University career record for beach volleyball wins while
Macie Lachemann and
Savannah Spitzer led the Maverick effort during a Monday tri-match split here at CSUN's Matador Beach Volleyball Facility.
The Mavericks, now 3-4 on the season, won their opening dual of the day, 4-1 over The Master's University before falling 5-0 to the hosts later in the day. The win over the Mustangs was the team's third straight giving the Mavericks their first 3-match winning streak since 2017.
Against The Master's (3-11), the Mavericks won the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 matches as Norwood, who played with
Tye Wedhorn, dominated the No. 4 match over Hannah Wood and Caihannah-Jane Catabona, 21-7, 21-13. That victory, which put the Mavericks up 1-0 allowed Norwood, a senior from Ridgway, Colorado, to match former teammate
Katie Scherr's career wins record of 18.
Lachemann, playing in her home state, and Spitzer, won the No. 2 match over Chloe Johnson and Tara Delk, 23-21, 21-13.
Sabrina VanDeList, named as the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's indoor volleyball Setter of the Week while playing on the sand, and
Ashton Reese then clinched the Mavericks' victory with a convincing 21-9, 21-13 win over the Mustangs' Anna Poole and Gwen Garate in the fifth flight.
The all-freshman duo of
Hahni Johnson and
Sierra Hunt also claimed victory for CMU. They defeated Kasie Spencer and Kylie Clouse, 21-19, 22-20 in the No. 2 flight.
The Mustangs' lone point came from Katie Emmerling and Desi Brown, who edged CMU's
Holly Schmidt and
Maddi Foutz, 25-23, 21-19, in the top flight match.
Maverick players
Paige Gwaltney and
Hailey Peters also took on
Savannah Ott and
McKenna Palmer in an intra-squad exhibition match. The duos split the two sets with Gwaltney and Peters winning the first, 21-13 before Ott and Palmer took the second, 21-16.
Against CSUN (5-4), which had claimed a 4-1 win over The Master's to begin the tri-dual, the Mavericks' were able to win just one set. That came at No. 2 as Lachemann and Spitzer battled with the Matadors' Seyvion Waggoner and Lexi McLeod in a vert tight match. The Matatdor juniors won the first set 21-19 before Lachemann and Spitzer claimed the second, 22-20 only to drop the tie-breaker, 16-14.
VanDeList and Reese, who had won their three previous matches also scored 31 points in a 21-17, 21-14 defeat at the hands of True McCullough and Emily Sparks. Foutz and Schmidt were downed 21-18, 21-10 in their No. 1 battle with Lauren Eknoian and Meagan Carter.
The Mavericks will play two more matches in southern California on Tuesday facing Concordia-Irvine and 19
th-ranked Long Beach State at Great Park in Irvine.
