GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Led by a 14-kill, 20-dig double-double from senior Maddi Foutz  and another 24 combined kills from underclassmen Savannah Spitzer and Sierra Hunt, the nation's fourth-ranked Colorado Mesa University Mavericks claimed a massive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball win over No. 3 ranked MSU Denver in four sets on Thursday night in Brownson Arena.
 
Both teams had entered the match with perfect 8-0 overall records and did not disappoint the nearly 300 fans in attendance as CMU athletic fans was able to enjoy a truly open indoor facility for the first time in nearly a year. 
 
The 25-22, 28-26, 24-26, 25-20 victory allowed the Mavericks to move to 9-0 for the first time in their NCAA Division II history which dates back to 1992 and also came over the highest-ranked team that Head Coach Dave Fleming, now in his 16^th season at the helm, has ever defeated, quite a statement for the veteran bench boss who now has 294 career victories, the most of any current RMAC coach.
 
CMU also moved to 6-0 in RMAC play, taking a big step towards the inside track to potential RMAC Regular Season title as the only unbeaten team left in the conference.  The Roadrunners fell to 7-1 in the conference.
 
Foutz, who set a new career-high and match-high for digs, was one of three Mavericks with double-doubles.  Setters Sabrina VanDeList (27 assists, 13 digs) and Ara Norwood (13 assists, 13 digs) were the others.
 
Meanwhile, Spitzer, a sophomore middle blocker, tallied 13 kills on .435 hitting while Hunt, a freshman who got her first career start, tallied 11 kills.
 
Fleming's bench also had strong impacts as Ashton Reese recorded five of her six kills in the second set, including the closer, as the Mavericks rallied from 23-21 down to seize a 24-23  lead.
 
Avaline Lai, who had 13 kills to lead an equally-balanced Roadrunner front-line, then tied set with a kill before a service error, one of the 11 the visitors were guilty of, gave the Mavs a set point.  Rylee Hladky, who had a dozen kills to go along with 16 digs for the Roadrunners and Reese then traded the next three kills before a Roadrunner setting error and Reese kill gave the Mavericks a commanding 2-0 lead.
 
In the third set, it was the Roadrunners who rallied.  The Mavericks had a 20-17 lead but watched the Roadrunners tie the score at 22 with a 5-2 run that featured a Lai kill and Ashlynn Cianciulli ace and two Maverick hitting errors.
 
The Mavericks then came out of a timeout and quickly went up 24-22 on a Spitzer kill and Hladkey hitting error to earn a pair of match points.  However, Lai and Hladky erased both with kills before back-to-back blocks by Kaylee Corsentino and Mikayla McClinton suddenly gave the Roadrunners the set, forcing the match to a fourth.
 
The fourth set was tied on 13 separate occasions including at 18 before a 5-0 run, triggered by a Spitzer kill and tandem block with Hunt followed a Foutz service gave the Mavericks a commanding 23-18 lead. 
 
MSU Denver's Kayla White and Spitzer then exchanged kills before a Maverick hitting error made the score 24-20.  However, Haley Hahn avenged that hitting error with a match-clinching kill.
 
Many of the statistics were quite even.  The Mavericks had a slight 56-55 edge in total kills but were out-hit .186 to .178 as they were guilty of 27 errors, four more than the visitors. 
 
The Mavericks also had a 78-68 advantage in digs as Kerstin Layman got her first start of the season at libero, recording 14 digs. 
 
McClinton had four blocks to lead the Roadrunners to a 6-5 advantage in that category.
 
The Mavericks will now be off for nine days before heading to Pueblo for a Mar. 13 encounter at CSU Pueblo, a team they defeated in non-conference play in four sets back in January on the season's opening day.