GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The nation's 11^th-ranked Colorado Mesa University Mavericks proved to be the better team, especially in the second half of each set, and played some superb defensive volleyball in a 25-17, 25-23, 25-20 victory over a scrappy Westminster University Griffin team on Saturday afternoon here in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks went a perfect 59-for-59 on service receptions as they held the Griffins without an ace and had four players in double-figures for digs in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Regional Pod finale.  The Mavs moved to 14-1 overall with what was their 17^th straight victory over the conference's Westernmost opponent out of Salt Lake City, Utah.
 
The Griffins, who had defeated Western Colorado University in four sets on Friday evening, fell to 5-10 overall despite having mid-set leads in both the second and third sets.  The Griffins also had 11 blocks but were held to just .076 hitting by the Maverick defense, which had five blocks.
 
Maverick libero Allison Waller finished with a match-high 19 digs while defensive specialist Jordan Woods tallied 13 digs and 17 service receptions, helping the Mavs to a 65-57 advantage in total digs.
 
Meanwhile, setter Sabrina VanDeList recorded a double-double with 33 assists and 10 digs while chipping in three kills and a solo block.  Outside hitter Riley Daugherty was also just a skill shy of a double-double, finishing with nine kills and ten digs.  She also successfully passed all 35 service receptions.
 
Offensively, the Mavs were paced by outside hitter Sydney Leffler, who had 13 kills, and right side hitter Emma Shaddix, who finished with ten.  The RMAC's attack percentage leader also hit .435, slightly above her now .416 season mark.
 
The Mavs hit .174 as a team but got out to a great start as Leffler recorded seven kills in the opening set, which saw the Mavs hit .283.
 
The Mavs never trailed in that set but could not shake the Griffins, who were within a point at 16-15 before Leffler took over the set, tallying five of her kills in what was a 9-2 extended run, including the set-winner.
 
The Mavs then trailed 11-8 in the second set before battling back to take a 15-14 lead thanks in part to a 4-0 run that featured back-to-back kills from Daugherty after another from middle hitter Savannah Spitzer.
 
The set remained tight and was tied at 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 before kills from Leffler and Daugherty gave the Mavs a 23-21 lead.  An attacking error coming out of a Griffin timeout then gave the Mavs three set points at 24-21.
 
After being unable to convert on the first two, Daugherty recorded her sixth kill of the set to win it.
 
The Mavs also trailed by as many as three points at 9-6 and later by two at 18-16 before a Shaddix kill followed by three straight Griffin hitting miscues switched the 2-point deficit into a 20-18 Maverick lead.
 
The Griffins then scored the next point before two kills by Spitzer and a ball handling error put the Mavs up 23-19.
 
After surrendering one point, the Mavs then saw Spitzer put down a kill to increase the lead to 24-20 before Leffler and Aesha Alrashed blocked the Griffins' Claire Cook to finish off the match.
 
Saturday's match did not count in the RMAC standings and was the second between the teams in 12 days.  The Mavs also had a straight-set sweep in Salt Lake City on Sept. 19, when Leffler also finished with 13 kills.
 
The Mavs, 4-1 in conference play, will resume conference-counting matches next weekend on the road playing at CSU Pueblo (5-9, 3-1 RMAC) on Friday night before heading to Alamosa to face Adams State (4-10, 2-2 RMAC) on Saturday afternoon.