GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The nation's 11^th-ranked Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will continue a 2-weekend homestand hosting Western Colorado University and Westminster University in a 3-day Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference "Regional Pod", beginning Thursday in Brownson Arena.
 
The 12-1 Mavs will take on 2-10 Western on Thursday at 6 p.m. and will face 4-9 Westminster on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.  In between, Western and Westminster will square off in a neutral-court encounter at 6 p.m. on Friday evening.
 
The matches, which will not count towards the RMAC standings, will all be rematches of when the teams all faced each other in the opening days of the conference season between Sept. 15-19.
 
All three matches can also be seen through the RMAC Network and live statistics can also be accessed through the link above.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks saw their 11-match season-starting winning streak snapped by then No. 8 MSU Denver last Friday night but bounced back to defeat the Colorado School of Mines, receiving votes in the national poll, just 22 hours later on Saturday afternoon.  Both matches were decided in four sets with the winning team taking the first, second and fourth sets in each.
 
The MSU Denver Roadrunners extended their RMAC-record conference winning streak to 43 consecutive matches (now 44) with Friday's win.  They also snapped CMU's multi-season home-court winning streak at 11.
 
They recorded 14 blocks in Friday's match as the Mavericks were also guilty of 32 total hitting errors, and ten service errors.  CMU did finish with a 57-47 advantage in total kills as graduate right side hitter Emma Shaddix put down 15 while hitting over .400.  Outside hitters Sydney Leffler (14) and Riley Daugherty (10) also combined for 24 additional kills but were regularly blocked by the Roadrunner duo of Maddy McWilliams, who had 11 total blocks, and Mikayla McClinton, who had 10 block assists in the match.
 
Maverick libero Allison Waller also had a career-high 22 digs as the Mavs finished with a 61-54 advantage in total digs.
 
In Saturday's win over Mines, Leffler finished with a match-high 17 kills while Shaddix and Savannah Spitzer each finished with 11.  All three hit at or above .360 as setter Sabrina VanDeList tallied 43 assists while orchestrating the overall Maverick attack that hit at a .284 efficiency.  The Mavs also had a season-high nine service aces, two of which were from VanDeList, and recorded eight blocks.
 
Still 11^th
 
Despite the weekend split, the Mavericks remained steady in the No. 11 spot of this week's  (Week No. 4) American Volleyball Coaches Association/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II poll, released on Monday.  The Mavs had been ranked 21^st in the preseason poll, 14^th in the Week No. 1 poll and 12^th in the No. 2 poll before moving up a spot last week.
 
The current ranking is the Mavs' highest in-season ranking for a normal fall season since 2014, when they were ranked seventh on Nov. 17, before finishing eighth in the final poll after a 29-4 season and regional tournament championship match appearance.  The Mavs were ranked tenth in the 2021 preseason poll and were ranked as high as second from a limited number of teams who played during the 2021 spring season, significantly impacted by COVID-related issues.
 
The Mavs were also ranked in all 12 of the regular season's weekly polls in 2022 before finishing 21^st in the final post-season poll.  CMU was not ranked in the 2022 preseason poll, but did reach as high as No. 15 in the Week #10 poll on Oct. 31 of last year.
 
Including the 2022 post-season and 2023 pre-season polls, the Mavs have now been ranked amongst the nation's top 25 for 18 straight polls.
 
In this week's poll, the Mavericks received 672 points in the voting of 47 AVCA member coaches from around the country, 12 fewer than a week ago, but still 57 more than they did two weeks ago.
 
CMU continues to be one of three RMAC teams in the top 25 with MSU Denver, now occupying the No. 7 spot thanks in part to the victory over the Mavs.  Regis also moved up to 13^th after sitting in a 16^th place tie a week ago.
 
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rivals Wayne State (Neb.) and Concordia-St. Paul continue to sit first and second and have only lost to each other.  Undefeated Tampa and Missouri-St. Louis both moved up a spot to third and fourth, respectively, as defending national champions West Texas A&M dropped two spots to fifth after suffering a loss to Dallas Baptist in their Lone Star Conference opener.
 
The Central Region as a whole, predominantly because of the NSIC, occupy most of the second five with St. Cloud State and Southwest Minnesota State sandwiching MSU Denver.  The NSIC's Minnesota Duluth is tenth just ahead of the Mavericks while Nebraska-Kearney of the MIAA and Central Region sits ninth.
 
Dallas Baptist and Mines, teams the Mavs have victories over this year, are both amongst the "others receiving votes" category.
 
Welcome the Pods
 
The Mavericks and all other 14 RMAC teams will participate in the first of two pod weekends that is part of this year's new scheduling format.  This weekend's "Regional Pods" will see the 15 teams split into five 3-team groupings based on geography.
 
In late October, the teams will be split into five other groups of three teams for "Power Pods".  The make-up of those groups was based on last year's conference standings and has the top three teams, including the Mavs squaring off with each other.  The Mavs finished third in 2022 and are in the top pod with MSU Denver and Regis, who finished first and second in last year's conference standings.  MSU Denver will host that pod from Oct. 26-28 in the Auraria Event Center and the Mavs will get to play the Roadrunners and Rangers twice this season.
 
CMU hosts Regis in a conference match on Oct. 14.
 
This weekend's match-ups with Western Colorado and Westminster will also be their second meetings with each opponent.
 
The fourth through sixth place finishers from last year's standings are also grouped together for the "Power Pods" as are the 7^th-9^th, 10^th-12^th and 13^th-15^th place finishers.
 
The two weekends of pod matches will not count in this year's conference standings and are in essence, non-conference, yet in-region matches that will still be used for NCAA Division II Tournament selection and overall record purposes.  The conference standings and regular season title will be determined by the other 14 official RMAC matches played over in a single round-robin. 
 
In previous years, teams played 18 conference matches, facing four teams twice in conference play, thus creating an unbalanced playing schedule.
 
These pod matches replace those four duplicate meetings and were designed to minimize travel for the "Regional Pod" weekend while pitting teams of relative strength against each other to further aid possible NCAA Tournament selection resumes during the "Power Pod" weekend.
 
Top Hitters
 
The Mavericks continue to lead the RMAC in team hitting percentage at .272 and also have the top two individuals in Emma Shaddix and Savannah Spitzer.  Shaddix is hitting .410 to pace the conference while Spitzer is the only other RMAC hitter at or above .400, hitting that mark on the dot.
 
The Mavs also rank 11^th as a team in the national statistics for a hitting percentage while Shaddix and Spitzer rank 10^th and 15^th, respectively.
 
Setter Extraordinaire
 
Maverick setter Sabrina VanDeList also continues to lead the RMAC in both total assists and assists per set.  She has recorded 530 in 45 sets, good for an 11.78 per set average.   Mines' Presley Powell is second in both categories with 504 assists and her 10.72 per set average.
 
VanDeList also ranks highly on the national scale, ranking third for assists per set and tenth for total assists.
 
As a team, the Mavericks rank second in assists per set (14.07) and also sit fourth in kills per set (14.67).
 
Emerging Aesha
 
Sophomore middle hitter Aesha Alrashed has emerged to be a standout Maverick this season.  Sitting behind two standout veterans in Savannah Spitzer and Tye Wedhorn last year, Alrashed played in just eight sets as a freshman recording two kills and two blocks throughout the season.
 
However, the Greeley native has come on strong in 2023, making seven starts, mostly as the Mavs' second middle while appearing in each of the last nine matches.  She has recorded 53 kills and is second to only Spitzer with 25 total blocks.
 
She had five blocks in each of the last two matches, her career-high, and matches a career-high by putting down eight kills while hitting .375 in Saturday's win over Mines.  Alrashed is also hitting .304 and ranks 13^th in the entire RMAC with that figure.
 
Matching up with the best
 
The Mavs' 11-0 start was their best fall season start in at least the NCAA Division II era (1992-Present).  The only better start in that time was their 15-0 start in the spring of 2021.
 
Despite losing last week, the Mavericks are still an impressive 12-1 this season and are tied for fifth in the country with their .923 winning percentage, by far the best overall winning percentage in the RMAC.
 
The Mavs finished the COVID-abbreviated and delayed 2021 spring season with a 15-1 record.  This season's squad could match that team for the best 16-match start with three more victories.
 
The 2014 edition of the Mavericks went 29-4, CMU's best "normal season" record in program history by winning percentage.  That team was 10-3 in the first 13 matches and 12-3 in the first 15.

The 1994 team went 13-2 to start what ended up being a 31-14 season.
 
Serving her way up the list
 
While climbing up the Mavs' career assists charts and now standing fifth in program history with 3,170, redshirt junior Sabrina VanDeList is also steadily climbing up the Mavs' career charts for service aces.  She had three more aces last weekend and has now had nine in the last five matches.  She has served at least one ace in each of the Mavs' last eight matches after accumulating just two total in the first five of the season.
 
VanDeList now has 130 career service aces and moved past Kelly Beer for eighth place on the Mavs' all-time charts over the weekend.  VanDeList's next target is Jeanie Sutter, who had 133 career assists in her 1995-98 career.
 
Drew Choules is the Maverick record holder with 153 career service aces during her 2004-07 career, a mark that is certainly in VanDeList's grasp of catching this or next season, considering her past serving success.
 
VanDeList led the RMAC with 53 aces last year, the Mavs' highest single-season total since Choules had 69 in 2005.  She has a team-high 16 so far this season.
 
Top-attack
 
Largely thanks to VanDeList, the Mavericks lead the country in assists per set (14.22).  They also rank fourth in the country and atop the RMAC in kills per set (14.84) through Wednesday night matches.
 
The Mavericks' offense has also been highly efficient, ranking first in the RMAC and sixth nationally for hitting percentage at .286.
 
The RMAC's top boss
 
Now in his 19^th season as the Mavs' head Coach, Dave Fleming leads all active RMAC coaches with 355 career victories.  Fleming is 355-174 in his time at CMU, good for a .671 winning percentage and reached the 350-career win milestone on Sept. 8 after the Mavs win over Sioux Falls.
 
The Mavs recorded their seventh 20-win season under Fleming last fall, going 22-7, while qualifying for their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.  This came after the Mavs won the 2021 spring season RMAC title while going 15-1 overall during the COVID related delayed and abbreviated schedule.
 
The success is nothing new for Fleming, who has now led the Mavericks to nine 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 238-91 (.723) in conference play under Fleming.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
Despite seeing their 11-match home-court winning streak snapped last Friday, the Mavericks have enjoyed plenty of success inside Brownson Arena in recent memory.  The Mavs are now 5-1 at home this season and have not lost more than a single home match in each of the previous five seasons, going 8-1 last year and 45-6 (.882) since the start of 2019.  The Mavs are also 81-14 (.853) at home since the start of 2014.
 
CMU's last three home losses have all come against MSU Denver, who defeated the Mavs on Sept. 23 of last season in a tight match that saw all three sets decided by the minimum 2-point margin.
 
The Mavs also went 9-1 at home in 2021, 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 11 completed seasons since and including 2012, going 95-22 (.812) since the start of 2012.
 
About Western Colorado
 
The Mountaineers are 2-10 overall and have gone 0-4 in their first four conference matches.  They have lost nine straight matches overall, falling to CMU by a 25-19, 25-11, 25-22 scoreline less than two weeks ago on Sept. 15 before dropping a 5-set match to Westminster a day later.  Both of those matches were played in Gunnison.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Maggie Olson leads the Mountaineers with 111 total kills (2.85/set), but has recorded just 25 in the Mountaineers' four conference matches combined.  Seyun Park, a former junior college all-American at Seward County (Kan.) Community College, now has 109 kills and is hitting at a .379 clip to rank fifth in the RMAC.
 
Park had 12 kills and hit .500 against the Mavs before putting down 20 on .425 hitting against Westminster.  She has also taken over the team lead in blocks with 18.
 
Setter Nur Turkmenoglu is averaging 8.19 assists per set and also leads the team with 16 service aces.
 
Libero Elizabeth Rupprecht leads the team with 148 digs (3.444/set) while Olsen is second with 109 (2.79/set).
 
About Westminster
 
The Griffins are off to a 2-3 RMAC start and will have a 4-9 record entering Friday's match against Western Colorado.  They enjoyed their first win over the Colorado School of Mines in program history last Friday, knocking off the Orediggers in four sets.
 
They had claimed a 5-set win at Western Colorado the weekend before falling to CMU in straight sets at home last Tuesday (Sept. 19).
 
Senior outside hitter Olivia Curtis had a match-high 14 kills against the Mavs and leads the Griffins with 126 total kills (2.63/set) throughout the season.  Regan Jackson (91, 1.98/set) and Mailei Myers (87, 1.78/set) are just behind.
 
Meyers also ranks just behind CMU's Emma Shaddix and Savannah Spitzer and in third in the RMAC statistics for hitting percentage at .399.  She also leads the Griffins with 41 blocks while libero Abby Reardon is 11^th in the RMAC for digs with her 3.16 per set average.
 
Series Histories
 
Including, the Sept. 15 win, the Mavericks have won 20 straight matches against Western Colorado, building a 55-12 lead in the Division II era (1992-Present) series.  The Mavs, who have won 32 of the last 33, are also 26-5 against the Mountaineers in Grand Junction, winning ten straight matches since 2013.
 
Western's last win in the rivalry came on Oct. 26, 2012 in Brownson Arena in five sets.
 
Maverick Head Coach Dave Fleming has a 34-2 record against the Mountaineers and is 1-0 against their new head coach Jordan Bruere.
 
Fleming and the Mavs have been nearly as dominant against Westminster, winning 18 of the 19 previous meetings, including 16 straight.  The Griffins' lone win came on Sept. 22, 2015 in Salt Lake City.  CMU is 9-0 all-time against the Griffins at home.
 
Fleming is also 1-0 against his Griffin counterpart Sue Dulaney, thanks to the Sept. 19 victory.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will resume official RMAC play next weekend heading out on the road to southern Colorado.  On Friday, Oct.6, the Mavs will be at CSU Pueblo to face the ThunderWolves in their Massari Arena.  The Pack got off to a 4-8 start in non-conference play but have won three of their four conference matches thus far after qualifying for the last two NCAA Division II Tournaments.
 
CMU will then travel to Alamosa to face 3-9 (2-2 RMAC) Adams State on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. in the Grizzlies' Plachy Hall.