DENVER— Colorado Mesa University junior outside hitters Riley Daugherty and Sydney Leffler each recorded 15 kills but could not consistently get past the MSU Denver block as the Roadrunners set a school-record with 22 blocks in a 4-set win over the Mavericks on Saturday afternoon in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Power Pod match-up at the Auraria Event Center.
 
The nation's 11^th-ranked Mavericks were playing a nationally-ranked squad for the second time in as many days after sweeping No. 12 Regis on Friday but could not stop the No. 7 ranked Roadrunners, who came from a set down to take the 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 26-24, 25-14) decision.  MSU Denver snapped a 2-match slide and improved to 16-5 while the Mavs fell to 20-3.
 
Regis had swept MSU Denver on Thursday night to begin the pod, which saw all three teams go 1-1.
 
All of the pod matches did not count in the RMAC standings, which MSU Denver and Regis co-lead at 8-1, just percentage points ahead of the 9-2 Mavericks.
 
In Saturday's victory, MSU Denver's Ember Canty recorded 13 blocks in the win while Maddy Williams was involved in nine.
 
The Mavs recorded just three blocks throughout the match and were held to a .102 team attack percentage after hitting .312 in Friday's win.
 
Maverick middle hitter Savannah Spitzer also joined Daugherty and Leffler in double-figures for kills with 11.  She also recorded three service aces two blocks. 
 
Meanwhile, CMU setter Sabrina VanDeList recorded her second double-double of the weekend with 43 assists and 12 digs.  She also added two aces to move into fourth place in CMU history with 137 career aces, one more than RMAC Hall of Famer Amy Miller.
 
Mavrick libero Allison Waller tallied 20 digs in Saturday's match while defensive specialist Jordan Woods recorded another 14.
 
The Roadrunners took an 11-7 in the first set before three consecutive Leffler kills followed by a Spitzer ace helped the Mavs tie the score at 11.  They then later went up 15-12 on a VanDelIst ace and another Leffler kill before eventually extending the lead to 20-16 on Spitzer kill.
 
However, the Roadrunners went on a 7-2 run to take a 23-22 lead before the Mavs scored two straight points to take a 24-23 edge.  Williams then fought off the Mavs' first set point before Leffler put down her seventh kill of the set to earn a second, which CMU was able to convert after a Roadrunner hitting error.
 
The Roadrunners then dominated the second half of the second set, coming from 11-10 down to take an 18-12 lead, before closing out the frame with their tenth block of the match.
 
The third set was quite a battle and featured 12 tie scores and seven lead changes.
 
Late in the set, the Mavs had 23-22 and 24-23 leads but could not close out the frame as a Willims kill, a Canty/Williams block and Autumn Gibbs service ace gave the Roadrunners the crucial third set.
 
The Mavs could never recover as the Roadrunners managed seven fourth-set blocks as they built a 14-11 lead before another 5-0 Roadrunner put helped the hosts eventually put the match away.
 
CMU will be on the road one more time next Friday when they travel to Las Vegas, New Mexico to face New Mexico Highlands (3-21, 1-9 RMAC).  CMU will then close out the regular season at home on Nov. 10 and 11 before beginning the RMAC Tournament on Nov. 14.