GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After a 3-1 start to their season, the nation's 15
th-ranked Colorado Mesa University Maverick volleyball team will begin a 6-match homestand by hosting this weekend's Holiday Inn Maverick Fall Classic in Brownson Arena.
The Mavericks will play four matches in a span of just over 48 hours, hosting Cal Poly Humboldt and MSU Moorhead on Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m. The Mavs will then play twice on Saturday, taking on NCAA Division II South Central Regional rival (#RV) Angelo State at 1:30 p.m. before closing out the tournament against Cal State Dominguez Hills at 6:30 p.m. that evening.
The Mavericks four opponents are all at or above .500 so far this season and have a combined 11-6 record.
Adams State is also participating in the 6-team, 12-match tournament, which has a pre-determined schedule, which begins on Thursday at 5 p.m.
All 12 matches will be streamed live on the RMAC Network and live stat links
can be found here,
Additional information, including the complete schedule can be
found on the tournament webpage.
Tickets are also on sale at
www.cmumavericks.com/tickets.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks began their season last weekend, playing at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic, which the Colorado School of Mines hosted in Golden. The Mavericks went 3-1 throughout the weekend, sweeping Gannon to begin the tournament before recording a massive 4-set win over fifth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul, a program that has won nine national titles on Friday evening.
The Mavs then dropped a 4-set decision to Michigan Tech on Saturday as the Huskies emerged as the only one of eight teams to finish the weekend 4-0. CMU then closed out the week with a dominant sweep of Concord (W. Va.).
Senior outside hitter
Sydney Leffler led the tournament with 58 total kills and was named to the all-tournament team for the second straight year alongside redshirt senior setter
Sabrina VanDeList, who averaged 12.00 assists per set. VanDeList has now earned the honor in three of the past four years.
Sierra Hunt, who redshirted due to injury in 2023, also shined, recording 54 kills while hitting .311. Sophomore middle blocker
Nicole Martin also tallied 48 kills on .400 hitting. Martin also led the Mavericks with 12 blocks throughout the weekend.
Full match recaps can be seen below.
Milestone Setter To Be
Maverick setter
Sabrina VanDeList tallied 168 assists in the Mavericks' four matches and 14 total sets last weekend. Her 12.00 set per average leads the RMAC and is tied for sixth in the early season national statistical rankings.
VanDeList now has 3,984 career assists, the third highest total amongst active NCAA Division II players. She already ranks third in program history as well and is just 16 assists shy of becoming the third Maverick in program history to reach the 4,000 milestone, a mark she will likely hit in the second set of Thursday's match.
VanDeList is also just 218 assists shy of the Maverick all-time record of 4,202, held by Jordyn Moody (2011-14). Jeanie Sutter is second on the CMU charts with 4,138 career assists, just 154 more than VanDeList's current total. Sutter played for the Mavericks from 1995-98.
Looking for aces
VanDeList also tallied seven service aces last weekend raising her career total to 148 and within five
of the Maverick all-time record of 153, held by Drew Choules (2004-07). VanDeList is also ranked tenth amongst active Division II players in that category.
Eye on Another
If that were not enough for things to watch for this weekend, VanDeList could also become just the 13
th Maverick to reach the 1,000 career dig milestone. She now has 957, including the 37 she recorded last weekend. She is just 43 digs away from the milestone, last reached by former teammate Kerstin Layman.
RMAC Leaders
As a team, the Mavericks lead the early season RMAC statistics in both kills (15.29) and assists (14.21) per set. They rank third and fifth nationally in those categories through Monday.
The Mavs also have the individual leader in both total points and assists per set.
Sydney Leffler has recorded 70 ½ total points, good for a 5.04 per set average. She is also second in the RMAC in both kills (58) and kills per set (4.14).
Sabrina VanDeList leads the conference in total assists (168) and assists per set (12.00).
In the polls
Following their 3-1 start, which included the win over No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul, the Mavericks moved up two spots to 15
th in this
week's American Volleyball Coaches Association/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll. The Mavs were ranked 17
th in the preseason poll.
The Mavs were tabbed 16
th in the final edition of the 2023 poll. They reached as high as No. 9 last year after starting the 2023 campaign ranked 21
st.
CMU has now been ranked amongst the nation's top 25 in 29 consecutive polls since early in the 2022 season.
Concordia St. Paul remained in the No. 5 spot of the poll after winning their other three matches last weekend and still received a first place vote.
Tampa is the new No. 1 team after starting the season ranked second. Wayne State (Neb.) also moved up two spots to second while MSU Denver jumped four spots to third after starting the season ranked seventh.
Missouri St.-Louis is now ranked fourth.
Defending national champion Cal State LA dropped ten spots to 11
th after going 2-2 last weekend.
Michigan Tech is now ranked 20
th after going 4-0 at last week's tournament while Regis dropped from 11
th to 24th after going 1-3 at last week's tournament.
Angelo State, which is one of the Mavs' four opponents this week, is listed in the others receiving votes category.
Strong in Golden
After going 3-1 last week, the Mavericks have now posted a combined 15-5 record in the Oredigger Volleyball Classic, where they have opened the past five fall seasons since and including 2019. The Mavs went 4-0 in 2023 and have posted a 3-1 record in 2019, 2022 and 2024. They went 2-2 at the tournament in 2021.
Veteran Floor Boss
Maverick Head Coach
Dave Fleming is now in his 20
th season in charge of the Maverick program.
Fleming is the longest-serving and winningest active head coach in the RMAC, racking up 370 career wins and a .674 winning percentage (370-179) in his tenure. He has also won 246 RMAC matches and has an impressive .729 winning percentage within the conference and is one of just 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 18 of his 19 previous seasons and have reached 20 wins eight times, including in each of the last three seasons after going 15-1 to win the RMAC title in the spring of 2021.
The Mavs also have reached the NCAA Tournament ten times under Fleming, including in each of the last three.
Home Sweet Home
Brownson Arena has been a fortress of success for the Mavericks recent years. The Mavs, who will play their next six matches at home, were 13-1 at home last season and have not lost more than a single home match in each of the last six seasons. They went 8-1 in 2022 and are 53-6 (.899) since the start of 2018. The Mavs are also 89-14 (.864) in their last 103 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 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 11 seasons since and including 2012, going 104-23 (.819) since the start of 2012.
The Mavs went 4-0 in last year's Maverick Fall Classic.
About the Opponents
Cal Poly Humboldt – Thursday (7:30 p.m.)
The Lumberjacks will enter the tournament having won three straight matches and with a 3-1 record, their best start through four matches since 2016. Their 3-match winning streak is their first since 2019 and includes wins over Hawai'i Hilo, Hawai'i Pacific and St Martin's at Hilo's Hawai'i Fall Classic. They dropped their season-opener to Western Oregon.
Defensive specialist Sophia Spoja was named as the initial CCAA Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.00 digs per set, recording 68 throughout the weekend. She is a transfer from Division I Eastern Washington and is the daughter of Lumberjack coach Angela Spoja.
Senior outside hitter Awelina Fakalata continues to lead the 'Jacks attack, recording 73 kills (4.29/set) last weekend after pacing the team with 377 last year, the third highest total in the CCAA. Madyn Cervellera and Graysen Trupp were also major contributors last weekend, putting down a combined six kills per set.
Setter Kyra Slavik averaged 9.00 assists per set last weekend while Allaina Houk tallied 18 blocks. Fakalata also led the team with seven service aces.
Last year's Lumberjack team went 6-20 overall and 3-15 in CCAA play in Angela Spoja's first year with the program. They were 1-3 in last year's Maverick Fall Classic, claiming a win over Adams State after falling to CMU in four sets on the opening day of the tournament.
MSU Moorhead – Friday (7:30 p.m.)
The Dragons went 2-2 at Minnesota State's Maverick Invite last Friday and Saturday. They fell to Northern Michigan and Upper Iowa on the first day but bounced back to defeat Truman State and Parkside on Saturday.
Brielle Riess led the Dragons with 40 kills last weekend while Abby Thompson (34), Emily Ramsay (33) and Halle Erickson (28) also made significant contributions in a balanced attack that out-hit their opponents .216 to .195 throughout the weekend.
Riess also had nine service aces while Annalise Wilson and Amanda Lisl averaged more than 10 assists per set, combined.
Erickson recorded 11 blocks while Kiara Olesch had 69 digs, an average of 4.93 per set, to lead the Dragon back row.
The Dragons went 7-20 a year ago under then rookie and now second-year head coach Kari Thompson.
They have been picked 13
th in this year's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason poll.
Angelo State – Saturday (1:30 p.m.)
The Rambelles will be the Mavs' only Lone Star Conference foe of the regular season and Saturday's match is bound to have major regional tournament selection ramifications after both the Mavs and Rambelles qualified for last year's NCAA regional. ASU reached the semifinals.
Seventeenth-year head coach Chuck Waddington's squad is off to a 4-1 start this year after a 24-8 season a year ago.
They hosted their annual Kathleen Brasfield Invitational last weekend, posting a solid 3-1 record with their only loss coming in five sets to No. 23 Central Oklahoma. They also swept Emmanuel and posted wins over RMAC foes New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis before sweeping another RMAC opponent on Tuesday night, winning at Western Colorado to begin their road trip to Colorado in Gunnison.
Evelyn Torres (3.65/set) and Madi Parrish (3.11/set) have put down a combined 118 kills thus far in 2024 and are supported by four other players who have recorded 20 or more kills.
Graduate transfer setter Adeline Ortman, who came from another NCAA qualifying program at UT-Tyler, has doled out 182 assists (11.38/set) while leading the Rambelles to a .222 attack percentage thus far. She also has an impressive 13 service aces (0.81/set).
Sydney Thornton and Hannan Spencer have 10 blocks apiece wo far while Caleigh Enax has averaged an impressive 5.61 digs per set, already having recorded 101. Torres, who also transferred from UT Tyler before the 2023 season, has also 53 from her outside hitter position.
Cal State Dominguez – Saturday (6:30 p.m.)
The Toros went 2-2 to begin the season at last weekend's Golden Eagle Classic in Irvine and Azusa, California. They posted wins at Azusa Pacific and over Ursuline College but dropped decisions to Alaska-Fairbanks and host CUI.
Kayly Pau led the Toros with 40 kills on the opening weekend while Ava Hurry (37) and Maria Bejines-Garibay (33) were right behind.
Seventeen different Toros saw action on the opening weekend as new head coach Teddi Esko got a look at a wide variety of her players.
Setter Bailey Fuches started all four matches and recorded 97 assists (5.71/set).
Nina Robles recorded 68 digs (4.25/set) while Bejines-Garibay was second on the squad with 44 (2.93/set).
The Toros recorded 34 blocks as a team, an average of 2.00 per set, as Aleya Starnes put down 16 while Camryn Perdue and Fallon Freemon both put down 11, while recording seven combined block solos.
Series Histories
The Mavericks hold a 2-1 lead in the all-time series against Cal Poly Humboldt after winning last year's tournament opener in four sets. That was the first meeting in over 25 years after the teams split decisions in 1994 and 1997. The Mavericks are 2-0 against the Lumberjacks in Grand Junction.
CMU is 2-0 all-time against MSU Moorhead. The previous two meetings were in 2009 and 2010, when the Mavericks swept 3-set matches over the Dragons in Golden, Colorado.
The Mavs are 4-4 against Angelo State but have not faced the Rambelles since 2014 despite being two of the top programs in the South Central region. The Mavs are 2-0 against them in Grand Junction, winning a NCAA Tournament match-up on Nov. 21, 2014 and another in 2004. CMU has won three of the of the last four match-ups.
The Mavs are 1-1 against Cal State Dominguez Hills. Both previous meetings, which were in 2006 and 2009, have come in La Jolla, California in UC San Diego's tournaments. CMU won the last meeting in 2009.
Maverick Head Coach
Dave Fleming is a combined 7-1 against this weekend's opponents, posting a 2-1 record against Angelo State, a 2-0 record against MSU Moorehead and Dominguez Hills as well as his 1-0 mark against Cal Poly Humboldt from last season.
Up Next
After this weekend's tournament, the Mavericks will begin preparation for the start of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season. They will open up conference play with a pair of home matches, taking on Western Colorado on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. before hosting Fort Lewis at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.
