GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The nation's 15^th-ranked Colorado Mesa University volleyball team scored the final five and eight of the final nine points of the match to close out a 3-set (25-15, 25-16, 25-23) sweep over MSU Moorhead in Friday night action during the Holiday Inn Express Maverick Fall Classic in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavs dominated the first two sets but had to play catch-up in the third, trailing for most of the set.  They were down 22-17 in the latter stages but received back-to-back kills from sophomore middle blocker Nicole Martin and a service ace from Hahni Johnson to pull within 22-20.
 
The Mavericks then fell behind 23-20 but called a timeout as an Emma Luce kill out of the break triggered a 5-0 run that continued with a key Jordan Woods service ace.  Woods then served the next three points, which were terminated by kills from Martin and all-America outside hitter Sydney Leffler as the Mavs were able to close out the victory.

CMU has now won three straight matches and improved to 5-1 on the season.  The Dragons fell to 4-3.  The Mavericks have also now defeated two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents in as many weeks after taking down No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul last Friday during the Oredigger Volleyball Classic in Golden.
 
Leffler led all players in Friday's win with 13 kills while Martin and Sierra Hunt both finished with ten.  Martin hit at a .389 clip while Hunt hit .300.
 
Setter Sabrina VanDeList doled out 41 assists and added seven digs and a pair of service aces, moving within one of Drew Choules' program record of 153, a mark that has stood since 2007. 
 
Maverick junior libero Allison Waller tallied nine digs and was perfect on 20 serve receptions as the Maverick defense did not concede a single service ace to the Dragons while finishing with a 41-30 advantage in total digs.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks finished with eight aces as Wood chipped in three.
 
Both teams recorded six blocks.
 
The Mavericks finished the night with 49 kills, 20 more than the visitors, who received 10 of their 29 from Brielle Riess, who also added seven digs and three blocks in the losing cause.
 
CMU also hit above .300 for the second straight match, going for a .314 mark in victory.  They hit .353 in the first set and .387 in the second before pulling out a .216 mark in the third.
 
The Dragons hit .182 throughout the match but heated up in the third, putting down 12 kills on .250 hitting.
 
The Mavericks will continue the tournament weekend with two matches on Saturday.  They will face 6-1 Angelo State in a key NCAA Division II South Central Regional match-up at 1:30 p.m. before closing out the tournament at 6:30 p.m. against Cal State Dominguez Hills.  Three other matches will also be played throughout the day, beginning at 8:30 a.m.