hNORTHRDIGE, Calif.— The Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team set a new program-record for consecutive wins and then saw that streak come to an end as the Mavericks split a pair of 4-1 decisions with CSUN on Wednesday here at the Matadors' Beach Volleyball Complex.
The Mavs claimed their eighth straight victory in the morning match, pulling out four sets by three points or less but dropped two 3-set matches and three other sets by three or less points in the afternoon as the teams proved to be of equal strength.
CMU is now 12-4 overall while CSU moved to 10-7.
The 8-match winning streak surpassed the Mavs' former 7-dual streak near the end of the 2023 season.
The Mavericks' No. 3 pair of
Savannah Spitzer and
Sabrina VanDeList won both of their matches on Wednesday, defeating Kinley Lindhart and Maleya Miles in both. They were 21-11, 21-23, 15-13 victors in the morning before winning a tight 21-17, 24-22 decision in the second dual.
Meanwhile, CMU No. 1 pair
Hahni Johnson and
Amanda Ollinger delivered the dual clinching point in the morning as they won their 12
th straight match overall with a 21-18, 21-19 win over the Matadors' Gabriela Gregio and MayaMay Brown. However, the Matador duo would knock Johnson and Ollinger down to 18-2 on the season with a 3-set (16-21, 21-19, 15-10) win in the afternoon.
The Maverick No. 4 pair of
Barett Nolan and
Gracyn Spresser as well as the No. 5 duo of
Savannah Ott and
Taylor Scherff were also straight-set winners in the first dual as the Mavs took 1-0 and 2-1 team leads with those wins.
Nolan and Spresser defeated Layla Cederlind and Julia Bazylevych, 21-15 and 21-17 in the first dual before the Matador pair rallied from a first set loss to win the afternoon match by the narrowest of margins, 12-21, 21-18, 15-13.
Ott and Scherff defeated Abbey Sweeting and Taylor Buckley by a 21-16 and 21-15 margin in the morning. However, the Maverick duo fell 21-19, 21-15 to Haley Coggins and Sophia Jarosz by a 21-19, 21-15 score in the afternoon as the Matadors took a 3-0 team lead en-route to the second dual win.
Coggins and Jarosz played in the exhibition 6's matches in the morning and won 21-16, 21-19 over CMU's
Cedar Bellows and
Lucy Kaufman. They then moved into the lineup in place of Sweeting and Buckley in what was the only lineup change for both teams between the duals.
Bellows and Kaufman split sets with CSUN's Jadin Williams and Jillian Rodig in the afternoon in a 6's match that was abandoned.
CSUN's No. 2 pair of Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae defeated CMU's
Sierra Hunt and
Riley Daugherty in both duals, winning 23-21, 23-21 in the first and 21-15, 21-14 in the second.
The Mavs will continue their spring break trip in the Greater Los Angeles area this weekend when they play Concordia University Irvine and Pepperdine at Zuma Beach in Malibu on Friday afternoon.
