GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Still ranked 14
th in the country and now winners of 13 straight matches overall, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will close out the regular season with a pair of matinee road matches in the state of South Dakota.
The Mavs, 21-3 overall and 11-1 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, will play at Black Hills State (5-19, 1-11 RMAC) on Friday at 2 p.m. in Spearfish before heading to Rapid City to take on South Dakota Mines (16-8, 9-3 RMAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be streamed for free on the
RMAC Network and live statistics for each can be found at the links above.
Last Times Out
The Mavericks extended their overall winning streak to 13 while extending their home court winning streak to nine by claiming 3-set sweeps over New Mexico Highlands and Westminster on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively.
The Mavs also extended their rivalry winning streaks in balanced and dominating fashion.
CMU hit a .538 as a team in Sunday afternoon's 25-12, 25-14, 25-9 win over the Cowgirls, their 16th straight in the rivalry. That hitting percentage was the second best single-match total in program history and was keyed by a balanced offensive attack, orchestrated by setter
Sabrina VanDeList, who had 40 assists. Right side hitter
Sierra Hunt put down 13 kills and hit .632 in the win while outside hitter
Sydney Leffler registered 11 kills on .625 hitting. She also tallied ten digs and her eighth double-double of the season.
On Tuesday, the Mavs posted a 25-18, 25-20, 25-19 win over the Westminster Griffins after recognizing six seniors during pre-match Senior Night festivities. All six contributed significantly in the 19th straight triumph over the Griffins as Leffler recorded 12 kills and seven digs while VanDeList had 31 assists and nine digs as the Mavericks out-hit the Griffins, .255 to .092. Hunt also chipped in eight kills on .375 hitting while senior defensive specialists
Jordan Woods (10) and
Hahni Johnson (8) had strong nights. Johnson also had three service aces.
Senior middle
Stormi Tadlock also recorded seven kills and matched a season-high with six blocks.
Fellow middle
Nicole Martin, a sophomore, also had ten kills on error-less .625 hitting.
Full match recaps for both wins can be seen at the links below.
Where We Stand
The Mavericks currently sit second in the
RMAC standings and are guaranteed of hosting a RMAC Tournament quarterfinal match next Tuesday. They sit a match behind MSU Denver, which is 12-0 in conference play. The Mavs can still win a share of the RMAC title with two wins combined with a MSU Denver loss at either Western Colorado on Friday or at Fort Lewis on Saturday.
However, the Mavericks would only gain the No. 1 seed for the tournament if they are able to win the conference title outright, which would require the Roadrunners to drop both of their remaining matches. That is because MSU Denver holds the seeding tie-breaker after winning the conference counting match on Sept. 27, CMU's last loss.
The Mavericks did recently avenge that loss, defeating the then national poll's top-ranked Roadrunners in an RMAC Power Pod match on Nov. 2 in Denver. MSU Denver dropped to fourth in the national poll following that loss, their only one in the last 17 matches, and again slipped a spot to fifth in the most recent poll.
More on that later.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks sit two matches ahead of third place South Dakota Mines in the conference standings and can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win over Black Hills State on Friday or a head-to-head victory over the Hardrockers on Saturday. CMU would also clinch the No. 2 seed if South Dakota Mines were to lose to Westminster on Friday and can finish no lower than the No. 3 seed.
The Hardrockers will be somewhere between the No. 2 and 6 seed depending on this week's results.
CSU Pueblo and Regis are currently tied for fourth in the conference standings at 8-4 and will play each other on Saturday, in a match-up that will likely determine home court advantage for next week's RMAC Tournament quarterfinal.
Colorado Christian is sixth in the standings at 8-5 after picking up a Wednesday night win to clinch a RMAC Tournament spot and could still earn a top four seed while Westminster and Western Colorado are tied for seventh at 6-6. Adams State, Fort Lewis and the Colorado School of Mines are all currently on the outside looking in but within striking distance to qualify for the 8-team RMAC Tournament. They all have 5-7 records. UCCS is also mathematically alive at 4-8 but will need to win both remaining matches and get help plus win seeding tie-breakers.
Black Hills State is one of three RMAC teams (New Mexico Highlands, Chadron State) that has already been eliminated from RMAC Tournament contention.
The highest remaining seed after the Tuesday night quarterfinals will host the remainder of the tournament on Friday, Nov. 22 (Semifinals) and Saturday, Nov. 23 (Championship).
Regional Rankings
After being tabbed as one of the ten ranked teams in the initial set of
NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings that were announced in alphabetical order last week, the Mavericks learned that they are ranked fourth in this week's rankings, the first that were released in actual rank order.
The Mavs are one of three RMAC teams in the latest rankings with MSU Denver and Colorado Christian checking in at the No. 2 and 8 spots, respectively. The other seven spots are occupied by Lone Star Conference teams, including No. 1 West Texas A&M and No. 3 Angelo State.
Those regional rankings, which will again be updated next Wednesday, will eventually determine the selection and seedings during the NCAA Tournament selection show, which will air on Monday, Nov. 25 at 5:30 p.m. MST on NCAA.com.
The RMAC and LSC Tournament Champions will receive automatic bids while the other six spots and the one through eight seeding will be filled based on the final regional rankings, which are determined by these eight factors:
- Division II in-region winning percentage
- Division II winning percentage
- Division II strength of schedule (opponents' average winning percentage and opponents' opponents' average winning percentage)
- Division II head-to-head competition
- Results versus Division II common opponents.
- In-region Rating Percentage Index (RPI)
- Kevin Pauga Index (KPI)
- Late-season performance (last 10 matches)
CMU is looking strong for a fourth consecutive and 12th all-time NCAA Division II appearance. As of Thursday morning, the Mavericks currently have the third best record (21-3) and the fourth best in-region record (17-2). They also have the fourth best RPI (.611) and ninth best strength of schedule (.533) in the region. They also have the fourth best KPI (.360), ranking 28
th nationally in that category.
They are a combined 2-2 against the other nine ranked teams having split matches with MSU Denver and having lost to Angelo State while defeating Colorado Christian.
Double-Digit Win Streaks
The Mavericks have won 13 straight matches and have now posted six double-figure winning streaks under Head Coach
Dave Fleming and in their Division II history, including one in all five of the Mavs' seasons this decade.
Their 13-match winning streak is the third longest in their Division II history, which dates back to 1992. Two wins this weekend would allow the Mavericks to match the second longest.
The Mavs also won 11 straight matches in 2023, starting the year 11-0 and won 12 straight matches from Sept. 24-Nov. 1 in 2022.
They also won 10 straight from Oct. 2-Nov. 5 during the 2021 fall season and started the 2021 spring season with a 15-match winning streak before finishing that COVID effected season with a 15-1 record.
The Mavs' longest winning streak in program history is 20 matches, which came in the 2014 season, when CMU went 29-4 while winning the RMAC Tournament and reaching the NCAA South Central Regional Final.
20 & Counting
The Mavericks have now reached and surpassed the 20-win mark for the fourth straight season and for the ninth time under 20
th year Head Coach
Dave Fleming. The Mavs went 24-5 in 2023, 22-7 in 2022 and 21-7 in 2021.
History Making Setter
After becoming the Mavericks' all-time career assists and service aces record holder earlier this season, CMU fifth-year senior
Sabrina VanDeList continues to make history.
On Tuesday, she became the first Maverick player in program history to surpass the 1,000 assist mark in four different seasons. She now has a RMAC-leading 1,020 this year. VanDeList tallied 1,126 assists as a redshirt freshman in 2021, 1,156 in 2022 and 1,176 in 2023 and is averaging a career-best 12.14 assists per set so far this season, a mark that puts her fourth in the national statistics.
She also recorded 358 assists in the spring of 2021 during an abbreviated and COVID effected season.
Her 4,836 career assists also rank her third amongst all active NCAA Division II players and seventh amongst all active NCAA players in all three divisions.
Shot at 5K
VanDeList has a solid chance at reaching the 5,000 career assist mark during the post season. The Mavericks are guaranteed of playing at least three more matches and a fourth assuming if they are selected for the NCAA Tournament. Any post season wins in either the RMAC or NCAA Tournaments would mean the Mavs would play even more matches, further enhancing VanDeList's chances at reaching yet another lofty milestone.
If they play just four more, VanDeList would need to average 41 assists per match, which is just under her current 42.5 season-long average to reach the milestone.
Moving to fourth
After tallying 23 more kills during the last two home matches, Maverick senior outside hitter
Sydney Leffler has increased her career total to 1,452, which has allowed her to move past Drew Choules (1,440) and into fourth place on the Mavericks' all-time kills chart.
Leffler started the 2024 campaign in ninth place on that chart and has steadily moved up to become one of the Mavs' all-time leading attackers. Only Amy Miller (2,228), Nikki Kneuer (Green) (1,668) and Stacey Vogel (1,583) sit ahead of her.
Active Leader
Leffler is also the current leader amongst active RMAC players with her total and ranks 15
th amongst all active NCAA Division II players with her career total.
Regis' Halle Theis (1,233), MSU Denver's Riley Anderson (1,214) and Adams State's Anna Huggins (1,034) are the only other three RMAC players with more than 1,000 career kills while Adams State's Cindy Garcia (992) could join that club this weekend.
Hitting her way to the top
Maverick sophomore middle hitter
Nicole Martin continues to elevate her season-long hitting percentage as she recorded 18 kills while committing just two errors on 29 attacks during the Mavs' recent wins over New Mexico Highlands and Westminster.
She had eight kills and hit .462 against the Cowgirls and put down ten kills without an error while hitting .625 against the Griffins.
In the process, she raised her season-long attack percentage 11 more points to .390 and now leads the RMAC while ranking 16th in that category as of Thursday.
Since and including hitting a season-best .636 in an Oct. 18 win over UCCS in her hometown of Colorado Springs, Martin has recorded 92 kills while making just 12 hitting errors. She is hitting .510 on 157 swings in that 8-match stretch and has hit above .400 in seven of those matches while hitting at a more than .500 mark in five of them.
The Veteran Court boss
Now in his 20
th year in charge of the Maverick program, Head Coach
Dave Fleming is the longest-serving and winningest active head coach in the RMAC, racking up 388 overall career wins and a .682 winning percentage (386-181) in his tenure.
He and his Maverick squads have fared even better in conference play, as Fleming now has an impressive .734 winning percentage (256-93) when coaching conference matches.
Fleming recently claimed his 250
th career RMAC win at home against CSU Pueblo.
He is just one of six RMAC Coaches to have 300 or more overall wins while coaching in the league.
Fleming has been named as the RMAC Coach of the Year four times and has guided the program to four total RMAC regular season and tournament titles and to three other RMAC West Division crowns. They have had winning campaigns in 19 of his 20 previous seasons and have now reached 20 wins nine times, including in each of the last four seasons after going 15-1 to win the RMAC title in the spring of 2021, an abbreviated season.
The Mavs also have reached the NCAA Tournament ten times under Fleming, including in each of the last three.
Quick Starters
In addition to continuing their overall winning streak last weekend, the Mavericks continued another winning streak of sorts as they have won the first set in all 24 of their matches this season.
CMU has gone on to sweep 13 matches this year and have won seven other times in four sets. They have lost the second, third and fourth sets after taking the lead in in their three overall losses and lost the third and the fourth sets before pulling out a 5-set win over CSU Pueblo on Oct. 11.
Home Sweet Home
The Mavericks have consistently taken advantage of their home and supportive crowd in Brownson Arena, something they continued with their recent victories. The Mavs have won nine straight home matches and are 11-1 at home this season. The Mavs have not lost more than a single home match in each of the previous six seasons, a streak they will try to extend this year with a win in the RMAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday (Nov. 19).
The Mavs were 13-1 at home last year and went 8-1 in 2022. After last weekend, the Mavericks are now 64-7 (.901) since the start of 2018 at home. The Mavs are also 100-15 (.870) in their last 115 home matches since the start of 2014.
The Mavs also went 9-1 at home in 2021, with their only loss coming to MSU Denver, which has been the only conference team to beat CMU at home in the past three seasons.
The Mavs also 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 13 seasons since and including 2012, going 115-24 (.827) since the start of 2012.
In the polls
The Mavericks remained in the No. 14 spot of the latest
American Volleyball Coaches Association/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll, which was released on Monday afternoon. The No. 14 ranking is the highest of the season for the Mavs.
CMU has now been ranked amongst the nation's top 25 in 38 consecutive polls since the first regular season poll of the 2022 campaign. They had hovered between No. 15-18 in the first nine editions of the poll this season, including the preseason poll, prior to moving up two spots to 14
th after their win over former No. 1 MSU Denver on Nov. 2.
Ferris State (26-0) remained in the top spot for the second straight week after last claiming a No. 1 spot back in 2015. The Bulldogs are continuing to receive 40 of the 47 first place votes. St. Cloud State (23-2) and Cal Poly Pomona (22-1) also remained in the second and third spots of the poll while Nebraska-Kearney switched spots with MSU Denver (21-2) in the No. 4 and 5 spots of the most recent poll. MSU Denver won their lone match of last week against Regis but had to do so in five sets.
West Texas A&M, Chaminade, Concordia-St. Paul, Tampa and Central Oklahoma make up the rest of the top 10 while Angelo State, which defeated the Mavs on Sept. 14, moved up two spots to 11
th. Point Loma Nazarene, the only other undefeated team in the country (Ferris State) also moved up two spots to 13
th just ahead of the Mavs.
CMU defeated Concordia St.-Paul, ranked fifth in the country at the time, on the opening weekend of the season.
About the Opponents
Black Hills State – Friday (2 p.m.)
The Yellow Jackets are 5-19 overall and 1-11 in conference play. The have lost four straight and have just one win in their last 16 after a solid 4-4 start in non-conference play.
Their lone conference win came on Oct. 26 at home in four sets over New Mexico Highlands before the Cowgirls avenged that loss with a 5-set RMAC Power Pod win in a neutral site encounter in Gunnison, Colorado.
Abigail Renner leads the Jackets with 242 kills (2.69/set) while Brooke Miller has recorded 200 (3.17/set) in 19 matches and 63 sets. Miller has not played in the last four matches.
Renner also paces third year head coach Bree Davis' team with 28 service aces (0.31/set) while Miller has 25 (0.35/set).
Libero Ellie Thomas also has 27 (0.30/set) and paces the team while ranking fourth in the RMAC with 407 total digs (4.52/set). Renner is second on the team with 268 digs (2.98/set).
Randi Wellhoefter is one of the better blockers in the RMAC, recording 86 to average nearly one (0.98) per set, good for sixth in the RMC statistics.
Setter Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner has tallied 624 assists (6.93/set) and has started 21 times for Davis while Elena Atkinson has made the other three starts while recording 224 assists (4.23/set).
South Dakota Mines (Saturday – 1 p.m.)
The Hardrockers are currently 16-8 overall and in third place in the RMAC standings with a 9-3 mark heading into their Friday night match against Westminster. They have won four straight and six of their last seven and are a perfect 7-0 at home this season.
Senior opposite Alessandra Meoni leads the RMAC in total kills with 369 and kills per set (4.10), edging CMU's Syndey Leffler in both statistics. The Italian is also hitting .314 and also paces the Hardrockers with 60 blocks (0.67/set) and a RMAC-leading 418 ½ total points (4.65/set), sitting second in the RMAC behind only Leffler for total points.
Senior outside hitter Jenna Curtis is also a big offensive weapon for seventh year Head Coach Lauren Prochazka having recorded 250 kills (3.01/set) from her outside hitter position. Fellow outside Ivy Vindivich also has 195 kills (2.71/set) in her sophomore campaign.
Graduate student setter Kiley Metzer has recorded 910 assists (10.11/set) to rank fourth in the RMAC while Hannah Benes is the RMAC's best defenders with 439 digs (4.88/set). Benes also has tallied 48 service aces (0.53/set) to lead the conference in that category.
Series Histories
The Mavericks have dominated the rivalries with their South Dakota foes. CMU is 12-1 all-time against Black Hills State, winning the last seven matches since the Yellow Jackets' only win in the rivalry on Oct. 21, 2016 in Spearfish, a 5-set decision. The Mavs are 4-1 against the Yellow Jackets on the road.
Maverick Head Coach
Dave Fleming is 12-1 against the Yellow Jackets as well and has a 2-0 record against his counterpart Bree Davis.
The Mavericks and Fleming are 11-0 all-time against South Dakota Mines and have won all six match-ups in Rapid City. Four of the last five matches and six total have been decided in four sets while the Mavs have been able to register 3-set sweeps in the other five.
Fleming is 6-0 in coaching battles with Lauren Prochazka.
Up Next
The Mavericks will return home to host a RMAC Tournament Quarterfinal match on Tuesday (Nov. 19) at 6 p.m. against a yet to be determined opponent. They will learn their opponent while driving home as the RMAC's regular season will come to a close on Saturday evening.
Tickets for that match must be purchased through the RMAC Championship page. A live stream will also be available on a pay-per-view basis.
Pricing options can be found here.
