GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Led by 17-kill efforts from both Savannah Spitzer and Sydney Leffler as well as a 42-assist, 18-dig double-double from setter Sabrina VanDeList, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick volleyball team was able to cut down the visiting Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks in four sets during 2023 DoubleTree by Hilton Maverick Fall Classic action on Thursday evening in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks, ranked 14^th in the nation, improved to 5-0 on the season with the hard-fought 27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20 win over the 'Jacks, who fell to 2-3 despite a fine 22-kill, 11-dig double-double effort from Awelina Fakalata.
 
The match was CMU's home-opener and was their first early-season home tournament match in 11 years.
 
Spitzer hit at an impressive .652 clip, committing just two errors on 23 efficient swings while Leffler, the reigning AVCA/GameChanger NCAA Division II National Player of the Week hit .302 on 43 total attempts.
 
Maverick libero Allison Waller also matched a career-high with 18 digs after she was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.  VanDeList, the reigning RMAC Setter of the Week, recorded her first double-double of the campaign and set a new season-high for 18 digs to match Waller.
 
She had 14 of those digs in the first two sets as the 'Jacks hit .250 and .303 in the first two sets before tailing off to a .219 final match percentage with .163 and .171 third and fourth set percentages, respectively.
 
The Mavericks finished with a .275 team hitting percentage but struggled to consistently pass for the first set and a half, before tightening the screws on the Jacks for the final set and half en-route to the victory.
 
The Mavs did lead most of the opening set, taking an 18-12 lead before the 'Jacks rallied to take a 23-21 lead.  The Mavs then went up 24-23 thanks to Spitzer and Nicole Martin kills around a Fakalata hitting error.  However, the 'Jacks scored the next two points and had a set point at 25-24.
 
Martin then put down a kill to fight that set point off before teaming with Aesha Alrashed for a block as the Mavs took a 26-25 lead to earn a set point of their own, which they could convert when Humboldt's Lindsey McLaughlin committed a hitting error.
 
The visitors then jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the second set and held on for a 25-22 win to even the match although the Mavericks did play much better volleyball in the late stages, winning eight of the final 12 points.
 
The third set was also tight and was tied for the tenth time at 15-15 before the Mavericks continued what turned into a 6-0 run with Hahni Johnson at the service line to take a 19-15 lead.
 
Leffler then put down three kills down the stretch to give the Mavericks a 2-1 overall lead.
 
The Mavs also surged to a 14-9 lead in the fourth set and extended it to as many as seven points at 18-11.
 
The 'Jacks did record two of their 12 blocks to trigger a 3-0 and 4-1 run to pull within 18-13 and 19-14. 
 
The visitors continued to pull within 23-20 before kills by Alrashed and Spitzer finished off the victory.
 
CMU will continue the tournament playing in two of Friday's five matches, facing Fresno Pacific at noon and Sioux Falls at 7:30 p.m.   Fresno Pacific (2-3) defeated Adams State in the tournament opener earlier Thursday evening.
 
Sioux Falls and Dallas Baptist will open Friday's action with a 9:30 a.m. match.