GOLDEN, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks split a pair of matches for the second straight day on Saturday here at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic in the Colorado School of Mines' Lockridge Arena.
CMU, which wrapped up the season-starting tournament with a 2-2 record, swept Seattle Pacific University in the morning before dropping a 4-set affair to Grand Valley State University in their twilight finale.
CMU redshirt junior outside hitter
Holly Schmidt and redshirt freshman setter
Sabrina VanDeList were named to the all-tournament team.
Against Seattle Pacific, the Mavericks recorded 16 blocks, a Division II era (1992-Present) school-record for a 3-set match en-route to a dominating 27-25, 25-14, 25-17 victory over the Falcons.
Schmidt tallied a match-high 11 kills on .444 hitting to lead the offensive attack while
Savannah Spitzer tallied a career-high eight blocks, including two solo rejections, while chipping in seven kills on a .313 hitting effort.
VanDeList also tallied 32 assists and 10 digs to record her first double-double of the young season while
Kerstin Layman had 14 digs.
Tye Wedhorn also had a career-day with seven kills and six blocks in her first start as a Maverick in the middle while
Ashton Reese finished with five kills and five blocks from the right side.
The Mavericks hit .198 as a team and held the Falcons to zero with their blocking prowess.
The 16 total blocks were two more than the former 3-set school-record of 14, set at CSU-Pueblo in 2008 and were the most for a Maverick squad in any match since Nov. 9, 2018, when they had 18 in a x-set affair against Dixie State.
In the first set, the Mavericks took advantage of four unforced Falcon hitting errors, a block by Schmidt and Spitzer, a Wedhorn ace and Schmidt kill to go on a 7-0 run to build a 20-12 lead. However, the Falcons scored 12 of the next 15 points to take a 24-23 lead while earning a set point. Two service errors and two Maverick blocks in the final five points of the set were then enough for the Mavs to take the early lead.
The second and third sets were more straight forward as the Mavs got out to an 11-5 lead in the second while using a 6-0 run with Wedhorn at the service line to build a 20-10 cushion, that was more than enough.
The Mavs then used a 5-0 run to seize a 15-11 lead in the third set before going on an 8-2 spurt to end the match on a Schmidt kill.
Against Grand Valley State, freshman outside hitter
Sydney Leffler tallied 15 kills while hitting .321 and was joined in double figures by Schmidt, who had 10 kills.
VanDeList recorded 34 assists while Layman recorded a season-high 18 digs.
The Mavs also had seven service aces and eight blocks but were held to .092 hitting as the Lakers (1-3) recorded 16 blocks of their own while hitting .245 in the 25-18, 17-25, 25-13, 25-21 victory.
The Mavs made just four of their 29 hitting errors in the second set victory when they hit .269 but struggled in the other three frames giving up a slight 15-14 advantage in the fourth as the Lakers scored five straight points to seize control before closing out the match.
CMU will play another four tournament matches next weekend participating in the Midwestern State Hampton Inn-Vitational in Wichita Falls, Texas, beginning against the hosts at 10:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. Central) on Friday. The Mustangs were also here at Mines this weekend, going 0-4.
