GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After splitting their first two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches of the season last week, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will head south for two weekend matches playing at Adams State in Alamosa on Friday at 7 p.m. before heading to Las Vegas, New Mexico to play New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
The Mavericks, 6-3 overall and 1-1 in RMAC play, are in the national rankings for the third consecutive week and are still tabbed 21^st in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Poll.
 
Adams State is also 1-1 in conference play and will enter Friday's match with a 4-6 overall record.
 
New Mexico Highlands is currently 3-7 overall and 0-2 in RMAC action.  The Cowgirls play Westminster on Friday.
 
A live stream for both of this week's and all of the Mavs' conference matches can be found on the RMAC Network.
 
Live statistics for this weekend's matches can be found at the links above.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks began RMAC play last Thursday, playing at national No. 4 and defending RMAC Champion MSU Denver.  Things did not go the Mavericks' way as MSU Denver won, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-16).
 
The Mavericks committed 33 total hitting errors and were blocked 14 times in the loss as they were held to a negative .008 hitting percentage.  Redshirt junior middle blocker Savannah Spitzer did have a sold night, putting down 12 kills while hitting .409 on 22 total swings.  Setter Sabrina VanDeList also had a double-double, her third of the season, with 23 assists and 14 digs, while libero Kerstin Layman had 14 digs to help lead the Mavs to a 54-46 advantage in that category.
 
Less than 24 hours later, the Mavericks bounced back with a convincing 25-16, 25-12, 25-18 sweep of Westminster in CMU's home-opener on Friday.  The Mavericks hit .293 as a team and held the Griffins to a .024 clip.
 
Outside hitters Sierra Hunt and Sydney Leffler combined for 21 of the Mavs' 43 kills.  Hunt had 11 and hit .500 while Leffler had ten kills.  The sophomore also recorded a career-high four service aces as the Mavericks tallied seven as a team.  CMU went without an ace against MSU Denver.
 
Tye Wedhorn also had seven kills in the win over Westminster while Brooklynn Leggett made her first career start on the right side, putting down six.  VanDeList tallied 34 assists while Layman had a match-high 15 digs.
 
The Mavericks have now defeated Westminster 14 straight times.
 
In the Polls
 
After beginning the season with the sixth most points in the "others receiving votes" category of the AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, the Mavericks are now in the top 25 for the third straight week.  They remained ranked 21^st in this week's poll and now have 243 total points, five more than a week ago.
 
Tampa retained the No. 1 spot in the poll with 1,155 points and received 39 of 47 first place votes this week.  MSU Denver also remained in the No. 4 spot with 990 points as the first of four RMAC teams in the top 25.
 
The Colorado School of Mines slipped four spots to 19^th in this week's poll after losing to Regis last Wednesday.  Regis is up three spots to 20^th in this week's poll.  one spot to 15^th in this week's poll.
 
CSU Pueblo remained in the others receiving votes category.
 
Tough Schedule
 
All three of the Mavericks' losses have come against teams currently ranked in the top-7 of the national poll in No. 1 Tampa, No. 4 MSU Denver and No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State.  Those three opponents are a combined 28-1 this season.

The Mavericks also have two wins over teams currently in the "others receiving votes" category of the AVCA poll in Northern State and UT Tyler, ranked 19^th when the Mavs played them on the opening weekend.
 
CMU still has three remaining matches against currently nationally ranked foes in MSU Denver, Mines and Regis on the 2022 schedule and another against CSU Pueblo, which is receiving votes.  Three of those four will be at home with the match against Regis begin the lone exception.  The Mavs play face the Rangers in their regular season finale on Nov. 5 in Denver.
 
Top-Notch D
 
The Mavericks held their opponents (MSU Denver & Westminster) to a combined attack percentage of .119 last week, lowering their season-long opponent hitting percentage to .137, which puts the Mavericks second in the RMAC behind only MSU Denver (.112).
 
The Mavericks also have given up just 309 kills, fewest in the RMAC, and lead the conference in opponent assists (8.87/set) and opponent service aces, conceding just 22 (0.71/set).
 
Redshirt senior libero Kerstin Layman has been a large part of that.  She ranks third in the RMAC for digs per set (4.81) and has committed just two reception errors in more than 100 attempts (103), good for an impressive .981 reception percentage.  Layman was the RMAC's Defensive Player of the Year last season.
 
Quick Bounce-Backers
 
The Mavericks are a perfect 3-0 after a loss this year and have taken full advantage of the opportunities for quick bounce-backs or "therapy sessions" as Coach Dave Fleming recently put it.  All three bounce-back victories have come less than 24 hours after their defeats, including Friday's win over Westminster, which started just 23 hours after Thursday's defeat at No. 4 MSU Denver. 
 
The Mavericks also defeated Colorado Christian on Aug. 27 just hours after falling to Southwest Minnesota State earlier that morning.  They also swept Tusculum a week later on Sept. 3, playing the very next match of the Tampa Classic after falling to No. 1 Tampa earlier that afternoon.

Clean Sweeps & Quick Starts
 
All six of the Maverick' victories have come in straight set sweeps this year.  The Mavericks also won two sets in two of their three losses and have a 22-9 set record thus far in 2022.
 
The Mavericks have also been impressive in the opening set of matches this year, winning eight of the nine first sets they have played.  The Mavs are also 8-1 in the third set of matches and are 6-3 in the second set.
 
However, the Mavs have yet to win an fourth or fifth set, dropping both in the matches against Southwest Minnesota State and Tampa having 1-0 and 2-1 leads.
 
Almost in the Rally Top 5
 
Layman, a D2CCA First Team All-Region libero from last year, now has 1,252 career digs and is just 29 away from joining the top-5 in CMU history during the rally-scoring era (2001-Present).  Stacey Vogel had 1,281 career digs to occupy the No. 5 spot.  Taylor Woods holds the Mavericks' era record of 2,080.
 
Ms. Efficient
 
Maverick redshirt junior middle Savannah Spitzer continues to lead the RMAC in hitting percentage and is now hitting .463.  She has put down 65 kills with just nine errors on 121 attempts and has hit above .400 in six of her eight matches this year.  She missed Friday's home-opener due to injury.  Spitzer ranks 11^th in the national statistics as of Tuesday.
 
Top-ten setter
 
Maverick redshirt sophomore Sabrina VanDeList continues enjoy a fast start to the 2022 season, recording 353 assists in the Mavs' 31 sets and nine matches, good for an average of 11.39 per set.  That average puts the 2-time First Team All-RMAC performer second in the RMAC statistics and sixth nationally amongst the Division II statistical leaders as of Tuesday morning.
 
As a team, the Mavericks rank tenth in assists per set (13.10).
 
Home Sweet Home
 
Claiming victory in their home-opener against Westminster, the Mavericks have continued to shine in front of their home fans.
 
The Mavs are now 69-12 (.852) at home since the start of 2014 and have not lost more than home match in each of the previous four-plus seasons, going 33-4 (.892) since the start of 2019.
 
They went 9-1 at home last year with their only loss coming to MSU Denver.
 
The home-court success is nothing new as the Mavs went 6-1 at home during the 2021 spring season.  In the fall of 2019, the Mavs went 8-1 after going 9-1 in Brownson Arena during the 2018 campaign.
  
The Mavs were also 9-1 at home in 2015 before posting 6-3 home-court records in both 2016 and 2017.  CMU was also an impressive 15-1 in 2014 en-route to a RMAC Tournament Championship and NCAA South Central Regional final appearance and have had winning records at home in each of the last ten completed seasons since and including 2012, going 84-21 (.800) since the start of 2012.
 
The RMAC's top boss
 
Now in his 18^th season as the Mavs' head coach, Dave Fleming leads all active RMAC coaches with 327 career victories.  He is 327-169 in his time at CMU, good for a .659 winning percentage in nearly 500 matches (496). 
 
The Mavs recorded their sixth 20-win season under Fleming in the fall of 2021 after going 15-1 while winning the RMAC's 2021 Spring Season.
 
The success is nothing new for Fleming, who has now led the Mavericks to eight NCAA Division II National Tournament berths, two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season titles (2014, 2021-Spring), two RMAC Tournament crowns (2014, 2018) and three RMAC West Division crowns (2005, 2009, 2010).

The Mavericks have had winning campaigns in all but one of his seasons and are a combined 220-88 (.714) in conference play under Fleming.
 
About Adams State
 
The Grizzlies will enter Friday's match with a 4-6 overall record, including their 1-1 RMAC mark.  They went 3-5 in a pair of non-conference tournaments in Texas to begin the season, with two of their losses coming against nationally ranked West Texas A&M and Northwest Missouri State.  Two others came against RMAC rival UCCS in neutral-site non-conference matchups in Canyon and Lubbock.
 
The Mavs then began their RMAC slate by dropping a 4-set home-opening decision to Colorado Christin last Wednesday (Sept. 7) but were able to win at Chadron State just two days later on Friday (Sept. 9).  That victory also came in four sets.
 
Outside hitters Riley Rabedeaux and Anna Huggins lead a balanced offensive attack for 18^th-year Head Coach Lindy Mortensen.  Rabedeaux has 112 kills (3.29/set) and ranks seventh in the RMAC.  Huggins has put down 102 kills and is tied for 15^th in the RMAC with her per set average of 3.00.
 
Cindy Garcia has also recorded 96 kills while hitting .266, just behind team-leader Cora Ellis, who has a .286 average in seven appearances, six of which have been off the bench.
 
Setter Madeleine Benally averages nearly ten assists per set (9.97), to rank fourth in the RMAC, and leads the team with 12 service aces.
 
Libero Aileen Bugas has 137 digs (4.03/set) to rank eighth in the league while Garcia has 23 blocks (0.68/set).  She also ranks 14^th in the conference for points per set (3.35) while Rabedeaux is eighth in that category at 3.76 per set, just fractionally behind CMU's Sierra Hunt (3.77).
 
As a team, the Grizzlies are seventh in the RMAC for hitting percentage at .190 and 13^th defensively, allowing their opponents to hit at a .219 clip against them.
 
About New Mexico Highlands
 
The Cowgirls, who host Westminster on Friday, are currently 3-7 overall and are still in search of their first conference win after dropping 4-set matches to Fort Lewis and Chadron State last week.  The loss to Fort Lewis came at home on Tuesday (Sept. 6) while their set-back to the Eagles was on the road in Chadron, Nebraska, one of four states they have already played in this year.
 
The Cowgirls are second from last (14^th) in the RMAC for hitting percentage at .139 but rank fourth in the conference defensively, allowing opponents to hit just .169 against them.
 
Three different Cowgirls in Keegan Lopez, Jontara West and Terayah Stukes are averaging more than two kills per set with Lopez leading the bunch.  She has 97 kills and is second on the team with 20 blocks.  Layla Hooks has 25 to lead the Cowgirls.
 
Setter Soleil Gandara ranks eighth in the conference with her 8.84 assist per set average while Elena Rivera is sixth for digs with her 4.24 per set average.  Stukes is also amongst the conference's top 15 with a 3.03 per set average
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks hold a 38-16 lead in the series against Adams State in the Division II era (1992-Present).  They have won six straight matches and ten of the last 11 matchups with the Grizzlies.  The Mavs are also 17-7 against Adams State in Alamosa and have won three straight matches in Plachy Hall since the Grizzlies' last win in the series, which came in five sets on Oct. 17, 2015.
 
Maverick Head Coach Dave Fleming has a 21-7 record against the Grizzlies and his ASU counterpart Lindy Mortensen, who along with Fleming have the joint longest tenures in the RMAC.
 
The Mavericks have been even more dominant against New Mexico Highlands.  The Mavs have won 13 straight matches and are 43-10 against the Cowgirls in the Division II era.  They are 17-9 against the Cowgirls on the road.

NMHU's last win in the series came on Sept. 30, 2011, when they won a 4-set match in Las Vegas. 
 
Fleming is personally 24-2 against the Cowgirls and 6-1 in the coaching battles with Tom Duke, who coached the Cowgirls from 2003-07 before returning to lead to the program in 2020.
 
Up Next
 
After this week's road trip, the Mavericks will return home to play in Brownson Arena for their next four.  That 4-match home-stand will be the longest of the season and begins on Friday, Sept. 23 against No. 4 MSU Denver, in a rematch of last week's meeting in Denver.