TUCSON, Ariz.— The Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team came up on the short end of some tight sets and ultimately the decisions as the Mavericks were downed 3-2 by both UTEP and Boise State in their first matches of the season on Friday here at Bear Down Beach on the University of Arizona campus.
Both duals came down to the end as five of the ten total matches went to three sets while two others were decided by 22-20 margins.
Senior
Hahni Johnson and graduate transfer and newcomer
Amanda Ollinger went 2-0 in their top flight matches to lead the Maverick effort. They defeated UTEP's Krista Paegle and Paulina Acuna, 21-14, 21-18 and then claimed a 3-et (21-15, 18-21, 15-7) win over Boise State's top duo of Marlayna Bullington and Sierra Land.
Savannah Ott and
Barett Nolan also split a pair of 3-set matches for the Mavs in the fifth flight while
Riley Daugherty and
Sierra Hunt picked up a nice 21-19, 21-12 win on Court 2 against the Boise State Broncos' Rorianna Chartier and Lily Patock.
In the first dual against UTEP Miners, the Mavericks were tied at 1 after Johnson and Ollinger's win before the Miners took a 2-1 overall lead with a 22-20 and 21-18 win over Daugherty and Hunt on Court 3. They then clinched the dual with a 15-11 third-set win on Court 4. The Maverick duo of
Cedar Bellows and
Sabrina VanDeList had dropped the opening set, 21-17 but won a marathon 27-25 second set to force the third, which ultimately went against them by just four points.
Meanwhile, Ott and Nolan were ablet to scratch out a 21-13, 15-21, 19-17 win in a match that ended just moments later.
The Mavericks then went on to take a 2-1 overall lead over Boise State, which came into the season, receiving votes in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Poll.
The Mavs were victorious in each of the top two flights as Daugherty and Hunt, who moved up a flight for the afternoon match, were the first winners before Johnson and Ollinger were 21-15, 18-21 and 15-7 winners over Bullington and Land.
However, the Broncos were able to pull out the dual with third-set wins at both No. 3 and No. 5 after claiming a 21-13, 21-19 win in the fourth flight.
CMU will continue their opening weekend stint at the Cactus Classic when they take on the University of San Francisco and Cal State Bakersfield at 9 and 11 a.m., respectively.
