GOLDEN, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team got the 2021 fall season off to a 1-1 start as they bounced back from a 4-set defeat at the hands of Southwest Minnesota State to post a convincing 3-set win over another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe is Sioux Falls later on Friday here at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic in the Colorado School of Mines' Lockridge Arena.
 
The Mavericks, ranked 10^th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll, won the opening set against Southwest Minnesota State, which was receiving votes in the poll, 27-25.  However, the Mustangs rallied for 25-18, 25-23 and 25-21 set wins as they out-hit the Mavericks .345-.139 throughout.
 
The Mavs then turned the tables against Sioux Falls, hitting .373 against the Cougars (1-1) in a 25-19, 25-19, 25-8 sweep.
 
Against Sioux Falls, setter Sabrina VanDeList tallied a career-high 37 assists while freshman outside hitter Sydney Leffler recorded a match-high 11 kills in her first collegiate start. 
 
Defensively, Ashton Reese had five blocks while Caroline Pung put down four.  Kerstin Layman had 14 digs to lead the Maverick back row.
 
Holly Schmidt added eight kills while Savannah Spitzer had seven on a .462 hitting effort as the Mavericks had a multi-faced attack, which also included 5-kill efforts from Tye Wedhorn and Reese.  Wedhorn hit an errorless .500.
 
CMU was guilty of just nine hitting errors throughout the match as they out-blocked the Cougars, 9-4.
 
Their .374 hitting effort was the team's best in the last 36 matches dating back to Sept. 20, 2019, when CMU hit .409 in a 3-set Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference sweep of New Mexico Highlands.
 
Earlier in the day against Southwest Minnesota State squad that reached the NCAA Tournament for 15 consecutive years from 2004-18, the Mavericks got off to a strong start taking a 7-0 lead before hanging for a 27-25 first set win.
 
However, things turned in the second stanza as the Mavericks' hitting errors started to mount.  The Mavericks were blocked five times in that set and also had five other unforced miscues as the Mustangs went on to finish with a 12-4 advantage in blocks throughout the match.
 
Schmidt finished with 14 kills against the Mustangs to lead CMU.  Leffler was also in double figures with 11 while Spitzer managed eight kills while hitting a solid .412.
 
VanDeList, orchestrating a 5-1 attack for the first time in her collegiate career, tallied 34 assists against the Mustangs.  She also had three of CMU's 11 service aces.  Newcomer Libby Borgerding also had three service aces for the Mavs while Layman tallied 15 digs.  CMU had 11 aces in total.
 
The Mustangs' Angela Young had 20 kills for the victors while Meg Schmidt managed 16.  Alisa Bengen registered 47 assists.
 
The Mavericks will continue their weekend on Saturday as they continue the tournament against Seattle Pacific and Grand Valley State.  Those matches are slated for 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  Seattle Pacific went 0-2 on Friday falling to the host Orediggers in three sets and to Colorado Christian in five.
 
Grand Valley State also went 0-2 dropping a 5-set match to Sioux Falls before being swept by Southwest Minnesota State.