DURANGO, Colo.— The No. 12 Colorado Mesa University Mavericks continued their white hot start to the 2023 season, improving to 10-0 overall with a 3-set road sweep of Fort Lewis College in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball action on Saturday night in the Skyhawks' Whalen Gymnasium.
 
Middle hitter Savannah Spitzer led the Mavericks in the 25-20, 26-24, 25-20 win, putting down a dozen kills and a season-high seven blocks while hitting .476.
 
Setter Sabrina VanDeList, who became the sixth all-time Maverick to eclipse the 3,000 career assist milestone on Friday, finished with 32 assists, seven digs, two aces, two kills and two blocks in Saturday's victory.  Libero Allison Waller also added 17 digs as the Mavs held the Skyhawks (4-6, 1-2 RMAC) to just .047 hitting throughout the match.
 
Meanwhile, outside hitter Sydney Leffler also chipped in nine kills while Emma Shaddix had six from the right side.
 
The Mavs held a small 10-8 lead in the first set but went on a 6-0 run that featured a VanDeList aces and two Leffler kills to build the advantage to 16-8.
 
The Skyhawks then went on a 10-2 extended run to tie the set before the Mavs went back ahead, 20-18, only to see the Skyhawks again tie the score on a JJ Curry kill and Natalia Lambos block.
 
However, Spitzer put down a go-ahead kill before teaming with Riley Daugherty to block Ella Butler, putting CMU 22-20.  Two more Skyhawk hitting errors then put the Mavs on the precipice of the set victory, which they claimed on a Daugherty kill.
 
The Mavs were then the team to come from behind in the second set, trailing 23-20 before redshirt freshman Erin Brown, who hails from the Southwestern Colorado community of Dolores, came on as a substitute, helping Spitzer block Butler once again to allow the Mavs to tie the set at 23.

Spitzer and Shaddix then blocked Curry before Bulter fought off a set point to knot the score at 24 on a kill.
 
However, the Mavs would not let up as Brown put down a kill before VanDeList and Spitzer recorded the last of five second-set blocks to give the Mavs a 2-0 overall lead.
 
The Mavs then jumped out to 9-4 and 11-5 leads in the third before the Skyhawks fought their way back into the set, tying it at 15 and again at 16, 17 and 18 as the teams exchanged points.
 
However, the Mavs then went on a 5-1 run that included a Spitzer kill and solo block as well as a Brown kill to take a 23-19 lead.  The Skyhawks scored the next point on a Jordyn Romano kill before a Spitzer kill and Skyhawk hitting error ended the match.
 
The Mavericks, who co-lead the RMAC standings with a 2-0 conference record, will continue a 3-match road swing on Tuesday night playing at Westminster University in Salt Lake Citty at 6 p.m.  They will then return home to Brownson Arena for what possibly could be a top-10 clash against MSU Denver, currently ranked ninth nationally, on Friday (Sept. 22) at 6 p.m.
 
A new AVCA national poll will be released on Monday afternoon before those matches.