GOLDEN, Colo.— Led by 16 kills from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Sierra Hunt and a stellar defensive effort, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team avenged their 2021 NCAA Division II Tournament defeat with a 25-23, 25-17, 25-16 straight-set sweep of No. 19 University of Texas at Tyler on Friday evening here at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic.
 
The victory came just hours after the Mavericks broke a 30-year-old school-record for hitting percentage in an afternoon and season-opening win over Northern State University and showed that the Mavericks (2-0), receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll, can win in a multitude of ways.
 
In the evening victory over the Patriots (1-1), the Mavs produced ten blocks while holding UT Tyler to just 25 kills and a .033 attack percentage.
 
The Patriots had hit .257 with 60 kills in their 4-set NCAA Tournament win over the Mavs last December.
 
On Friday, The Mavs put down 44 kills and hit .218 while posting a big 37-23 advantage in total digs, thanks in large part to redshirt senior libero Kerstin Layman, who controlled 22 Patriot attacks.
 
Layman had ten digs in the first set alone as the Mavericks battled from a 17-14 deficit to claim early momentum.
 
Offensively, Hunt had more than twice as many kills as any other player in the match while hitting .429 on 28 swings.  Fellow outside hitter Sydney Leffler had seven kills while Tye Wedhorn (6), Erin Curl (5) and Savannah Spitzer (5) all played strong support rolls.
 
Setter Sabrina VanDeList was also solid with 38 assists while recording four kills of her own.
 
Wedhorn and Curl also finished with five blocks each while Spitzer added four.
 
Two Curl kills and two Patriot hitting errors allowed the Mavericks to overcome the 17-14 first-set deficit as the Mavericks went on to go ahead 23-19 thanks to the 9-2 extended run that included three straight Hunt kills.
 
The Patriots would claw back within one at 23-22 and 24-23 but Leffler finished off the set with her second kill.
 
The Mavs also trailed 14-12 mid-way through the second set but went on a 11-2 spurt that featured three Maverick blocks and back-to-back aces by Layman allowing them to cruise to a 2-set advantage.
 
The third set was also tight in the initial stages and was tied five times, including at 9, before three straight Patriot hitting errors, including one thanks to a Curl/Wedhorn block, propelled the Mavs into the lead for good.
 
CMU gradually extended that lead to as many and won by nine.
 
The Mavericks will look to continue their hot start on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. when the face another nationally-ranked foe in No. 22 Southwest Minnesota State, which also went 2-0 on Friday.
 
The Mavs will then close out their tournament weekend against Colorado Christian in a non-conference match-up at 2:30 p.m.