GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Sydney Leffler, Sierra Hunt and Nicole Martin combined for 43 kills as the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team used a balanced effort to extend its winning streak to nine straight matches with a 25-20, 25-23, 25-20 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference sweep over visiting Colorado Christian University on Saturday afternoon here at Brownson Arena.
 
The nation's 17^th-ranked Mavericks, who improved to 17-3 overall and to 9-1 in RMAC play, had 50 kills overall while holding the Cougars (12-8, 6-4 RMAC) to 35.  They also completed a perfect month of October with an 8-0 record.
 
Maverick setter Sabrina VanDeList orchestrated the Saturday attack, registering 37 assists and 13 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double of the season, spreading the wealth to her three big hitters.  Leffler finished the night with 17 kills, eight of which came in a tight second set, while Hunt and Martin recorded 13 kills  apiece. 
 
Martin was very efficient and hit .579, making just two errors on 19 swings while Hunt hit .308.  They both had four blocks as well.
 
Megan McNitt led CCU with ten kills from the outside hitter position but also committed seven of the Cougars' 15 hitting errors. 
 
Renee Phillips also added seven blocks, including three solos for the Cougars, who had won three of their last four matches coming in.
 
The Mavs finished the afternoon hitting .239 as a team while the Cougars were held to a .185 team clip.
 
CMU scored the first four points of the match and never trailed in the first set, building as much as a 7-point (20-13) cushion as Martin recorded two of her six first-set kills on the final three rallies.
 
However, the Cougars would take 4-1 and 8-5 leads in the second set before the Mavs were able to the set at 12 before opening up a 15-13 lead on back-to-back Hunt kills followed by a Leffler service ace.
 
CCU did not falter and used a 4-0 run of their own to go back in front, 17-15 before two more Hunt kills put the Mavs up 18-17.
 
The tight set, which featured nine ties and five lead changes, then continued and was tied at 21 and 22 before consecutive Leffler kills gave the Mavericks a pair of set points at 24-24.
 
The Cougars withstood the first on a Maverick service error but could not fight off the second as Leffler put the set away with yet another kill.
 
The Cougars then opened up an early 2-1 third set led before the Mavs went on a 5-0 run that featured a pair of Stormi Tadlock kills and two more Leffler kills on back-to-back points.
 
CMU then extended the 6-2 lead to as much as 10-4 and were never seriously threatened again, cruising to what was their second 3-set sweep of the week.
 
The Mavericks will be on the road against next week traveling to Denver for a pair of RMAC Power Pod matches.  The Mavs will take on Regis for the second time in 14 days on Friday at MSU Denver's Auraria Event Center before taking on the nation's top-ranked host Roadrunners on Saturday.  Neither of those matches will count in the RMAC standings but will be very important for the NCAA South Central Regional Rankings.