PUEBLO, Colo.— Sydney Leffler and Savannah Spitzer both registered 17 kills while Emma Shaddix chipped in another ten as the nation's 10^th-ranked Colorado Mesa University volleyball team picked up its 15^th win of the season on Friday night here in CSU Pueblo's Massari Arena..
 
The Mavericks also relied heavily on setter Sabrina VanDeList, who recorded an impressive 40-assist, 20-dig double-double in the hard-fought 25-22, 15-25, 25-21, 27-25 road win over the ThunderWolves.  Her 20 digs are a season-high while her double-double is her sixth of the campaign.
 
The Mavs are now 15-1 overall and 5-1 in RMAC play while the ThunderWolves, who like the Mavs have qualified for the last two NCAA Division II Tournaments fell to 5-10 overall and 3-2 in RMAC play.
 
The final team numbers were incredibly balanced as both teams finished with 59 kills.  The ThunderWolves had the slightest of attack percentage advantages, hitting .281, just one single point higher than the Mavs' .280 team mark.
 
The Mavs had a 60-52 advantage in total digs as libero Allison Waller added 17 while Hahni Johnson had a co-career-high 11 from her defensive specialist role.  She also added a career-high five service aces as the Mavs recorded nine as a team.  CSU Pueblo had eight but was guilty of just one service error, while the Mavs committed seven.
 
Meanwhile, CSU Pueblo had a 7-4 edge in total blocks.
 
However, the Mavs had enough offensive firepower to overcome the Pack as Spitzer hit .500 on 30 swings from the middle hitter spot while Leffler added to her RMAC kills lead while hitting a respectable .268.  Shaddix hit .304.
 
The Pack received 16 kills from Peyton Van Veeen and 13 more from Sadie Scoville, who also registered a double-double with a team-high 13 digs.  Golden Finch had five total blocks while Scoville added four block assists.
 
The Mavs hit .417 in the opening set but struggled in the second committing eight errors, four of which were the result of Finch blocks.
 
Leffler then took over in the third set, recording seven kills without an error on 12 swings, good for a .583 attack percentage.
 
With a slight 13-12 lead, the Mavs then went on a 9-3 run that featured four Leffler kills to build a 22-15 lead.
 
CSU Pueblo would pull within 23-21 before a Spitzer kill and Johnson service ace gave the Mavs the set and a 2-1 overall advantage.
 
The fourth set was then tied at 13  and again at 15, 20 and 21 before a Shaddix kill followed by a Johnson service ace gave the Mavs a 23-21 lead.
 
However, the Pack evened the set at 23 before Spitzer and Van Veen traded kills.  Spitzer and the hosts' Ceanna O'Laughlin then did the same as the Pack fought off two set points to even the frame at 25.
 
However, Leffler recorded kills from VanDeList sets on both the final two points as the Mavs celebrated the victory after hitting .366 as a team in the third and .341 in the fourth set after hitting negative .062 in the second.
 
CMU has now matched its' best 16-match season-start in at least the NCAA Division II era (1992-Present) and will look to move to 16-1 for the first time in known program history on Saturday when they play at Adams State University in the Grizzlies' Plachy Hall.  First serve is slated for 4 p.m.
 
ASU fell to 4-11 overall and to 2-3 in RMAC play on Friday night, suffering a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-23) home loss to Westminster.