TAVARES, Fla.— The Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team kept rolling in their NCAA Division II title defense at the AVCA Small College Championships posting wins over Spring Hill College (Ala.) and Texas A&M University-Kingsville to win Pool D and then the challenge round while setting a new program record for single-season wins.
The Mavericks, now 18-7 on the season, defeated the Spring Hill Badgers, 3-2 to finish pool play with a perfect 3-0 record and then defeated the Javelinas, 3-1 for the third time in nine days to advance to the Gold or Championship bracket semifinals on Sunday. The match against the Badgers was a re-match of last year's title-decider, which the Mavs won 3-1.
CMU finished the 2022 season with a 16-10 record, the former program best.
The Mavericks, seeded fourth in this year's 14-team tournament, will play Concordia University Irvine, seeded second, at 10:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. Mountain) in the semifinal round. The winner will advance to the title match at 2:15 p.m. EDT (12:15 p.m. Mountain) while the loser will play in the third place match at the same time.
Top seed Tampa will play No. 3 seed Palm Beach Atlantic in the other semifinal.
All five Maverick pairs contributed a win during the day while
Hahni Johnson and
Savannah Spitzer won both of their matches, including a hard-fought 23-21, 21-19 win over Rylie Anderson and Madelyn Wallace to clinch the dual over the Javelinas.
Johnson and Spitzer have now won eight consecutive decisions, two of which have come over Anderson and Wallace, to improve to a team-best 23-8 on the season. They also defeated Mikayla Boyer and Jaylyne Bell by a 22-20, 21-14 margin in the dual against Spring Hill.
Meanwhile,
Sabrina VanDeList and
Tye Wedhorn claimed a 21-16, 20-22, 15-12 3-set win over the Badgers' Brooke Borgmeyer and Elizabeth Hardouin on Court 4 to move to a perfect 9-0 at the AVCA Small College Championships over the last two years. VanDeList and Wedhorn's match against the Javelinas' No. 4 pair was left unfinished.
The Mavs' other win over Spring Hill came on Court 5 as
Savannah Ott and
Hailey Peters posted a 21-12, 21-18 win over Lily Mascari and Jordan Atchison.
In the later dual against Kingsville, the Mavs took a 2-0 lead as No. 1 pair
Holly Schmidt and
Macie Lachemann bounced back from an earlier 21-17, 21-19 defeat to win 21-17, 21-14 over Rylan Pollard and Adrienne VanBrunt. Schmidt and Lachemann have now defeated their Javelina counterparts three times in the last week-plus as they helped the Mavs claim 4-1 and 5-0 wins at home last weekend.
Jada Hall and
Gracyn Spresser were then 21-15, 21-17 winners over Grace Gettys and Olivia Ziegler on Court 3 before the Javelinas got back into the dual with a Court 5 win only to see Johnson and Spitzer close the door on any potential Javelina comeback.
Colorado Mesa 3, Spring Hill 2 (Pool D)
1. Kassandra Fairly/Jessica Fairly (SHC) def.
Holly Schmidt/
Macie Lachemann (CMU-BVB) 21-17, 21-19
2.
Hahni Johnson/
Savannah Spitzer (CMU-BVB) def. Mikayla Boyer/Jaylyne Bell (SHC) 22-20, 21-14
3. Kyla Shappell/Linnea Beger (SHC) def.
Jada Hall/
Gracyn Spresser (CMU-BVB) 21-13, 12-21, 17-15
4.
Sabrina VanDeList/
Tye Wedhorn (CMU-BVB) def. Brooke Borgmeyer/Elizabeth Hardouin (SHC) 21-16, 20-22, 15-12
5.
Savannah Ott/
Hailey Peters (CMU-BVB) def. Lily Mascari/Jordan Atchison (SHC) 21-12, 21-18
Match Notes:
Spring Hill 15-12
Colorado Mesa 17-7
AVCA Small College Championships - Pool D
Pool Records; Colorado Mesa (3-0; 1st)
Spring Hill (2-1, 2nd)
Colorado Mesa 3, Texas AM-Kingsville 1 (Challenge Round)
1.
Holly Schmidt/
Macie Lachemann (CMU-BVB) def. Rylan Pollard/Adrienne VanBrunt (TAMUK) 21-17, 21-14
2.
Hahni Johnson/
Savannah Spitzer (CMU-BVB) def. Madelyn Wallace/Rylie Anderson (TAMUK) 23-21, 21-19
3.
Jada Hall/
Gracyn Spresser (CMU-BVB) def. Grace Gettys/Olivia Zeigler (TAMUK) 21-15, 21-17
4.
Sabrina VanDeList/
Tye Wedhorn (CMU-BVB) vs. Meghan Stiefer/Kalani Vasquez (TAMUK) unfinished
5. Taylor McCarthy/Jackie Alanis (TAMUK) def.
Hailey Peters/
Savannah Ott (CMU-BVB) 21-19, 21-18
Match Notes:
Texas AM-Kingsville 11-17
Colorado Mesa 18-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,5,2);
AVCA Small College Championships- Challenge Round
