GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Repeat tournament MVP Sydney Leffler recorded 20 kills on .586 hitting as the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks bounced back from an afternoon defeat to sweep Cal State Dominguez Hills in the nightcap of the Holiday Inn Express Maverick Fall Classic on Saturday evening in Brownson Arena.
 
Leffler also had a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs in the afternoon match against Angelo State, falling 3-1 (17-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-22) to the Rambelles, who went 4-0 in the tournament to move to 8-1 on the season.
 
The Mavs finished the weekend 3-1 and moved to 6-2 overall as they hit an impressive .424 in the 26-24, 25-20, 25-13 win over the Toros (3-5) in the last of 12 tournament matches.
 
Leffler finished the tournament with 61 kills, 17 more than any other player, and hit .409 over the weekend, earning the tournament MVP honor for the second straight year as the top vote-getter on a balloting of the six head coaches.  She was joined on the all-tournament teammate by Sabrina VanDeList, who recorded 40 assists and nine digs in the evening win after recording 43 assists and eight digs against Angelo State.
 
VanDeList, who was also honored on the all-tournament team in 2023, also added a service ace in the win over the Toros, matching the Maverick career service ace record of 153, held by Drew Choules since 2007.
 
VanDeList also moved to within just 11 digs of the 1,000 career milestone just less than 48 hours after becoming the third Maverick to ever eclipse the 4,000 assist milestone on Thursday night.  VanDeList now has 4,144 and moved past Jeanie Sutter for second place on the Maverick all-time charts.  Only Jordyn Moody (4,202, 2011-14) sits above the current fifth-year senior.
 
VanDeList led the tournament with 160 assists (12.31/set) while leading the Mavericks to a .294 attack percentage over the weekend, 40 points higher than the Rambelles.
 
Angelo State Match
 
Leffler led three Mavericks in double-figures for kills with 13 while recording her first double-double of the campaign.  Right side hitter Sierra Hunt and middle blocker Nicole Martin also added 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
 
Libero Allison Waller had a season and match-high 24 digs while Jordan Woods chipped in 11.  Martin also was involved in five of the Mavs' eight blocks while Leffler recorded three of the Mavs' four service aces.
 
The Mavericks jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first set and never trailed in the opening frame, building as large as a 9-point lead.  Leffler and right side hitter Sierra Hunt both finished with four kills and .500 first-set attack percentages as the Mavs hit at a blistering .462 clip in the opening set.
 
However, the Rambelles, would turn the tables in the second set, hitting .375 while the Mavericks were guilty of seven hitting errors, which dropped the Mavs to a .150 team mark in the second set.
 
The third and fourth sets were true battles and featured a combined 17 tie scores and eight lead changes before the Rambelles would hold on to win both.
 
The third set was tied on nine occasions and featured five lead changes, the last of which came when the Rams went on a 4-0 run to reverse a slight 17-16 deficit into a 20-17 lead.
 
The Mavs did fight back to tie the scored at 21 on a block by Martin and Erin Brown  and again at 23 when the Rambelles committed a hitting error.  However, ASU took a 24-23 lead on a Madi Parrish kill and then withstood a video replay challenge from CMU Coach Dave Fleming to win the set, 25-23.
 
The Mavs went on to take a 7-4 lead early in the fourth set before the 'Belles recorded four straight kills in a 5-0 run to take a 9-7 lead.
 
The Mavs battled back to tie the set at 14 and later pulled in front 17-16 on a Stormi Tadlock kill.
 
ASU then went on a 3-0 run to go in front 19-17 before the Mavs tied the set at 20  and 21 on kills from Martin and freshman outside hitter Karsen Breeding, who made her collegiate debut off the bench.
 
However, ASU's Parrish, one of four Rambelles on the all-tournament team, had an answer both times with kills.  Parris and Hannah Spencer then teamed to block Martin to put the visitors up 24-21, two plays before Parrish finished the match off with her 12^th kill.
 
All-Tournament pick Sydney Thornton added 14 kills on .407 hitting for the Rambelles while Evelyn Torres had 11.  Setter Adeline Ortman, who was also picked for the all-tournament team, had 39 assists and 11 digs for a double-double.  The fourth Rambelle on the all-tournament team was libero Caleigh Enax, who finished with 23 digs.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills Match
 
The Mavericks trailed 17-12 in the opening set but a trio of 3-0 runs to help pull event at 21 on back-to-back service aces from Martin.  The Toros then took a 22-21 lead before Leffler and Hunt put down kills to give the Mavs their first set lead since 5-4.  Maria Bejines-Garibay would answer for the Torros before the teams exchanged errors as the set was tied at 24.
 
Breeding and Tadlock then blocked Kayly Pau before a Toro attack went long as the Mavs pulled out the opening set.
 
The second set was also tight for much of it before a 5-1 Maverick run, only paused by a service error, put the Mavs in front 21-17.
 
The Toros could not recover as Leffler, Tadlock, Breeding and Hunt all put down kills in the closing stages to put the Mavs ahead, 2-0 overall.
 
The Mavericks then dominated the third set, recording 20 kills and a .559 attack percentage.  Leffler had eight kills in that set alone while Breeding recorded five of her ten in what was just her second match of her young collegiate career.
 
Hunt also added eight kills in the win while Martin and Tadlock both put down seven from the middle while hitting a combined .416.
 
The Mavs finished the night with 54 kills, 20 more than the Toros, who still hit a respectable .242 as a team.

Waller led all players with 12 digs while Tadlock put down three blocks to lead the Maverick defensively.
 
Up Next
 
After a second straight 3-1 weekend and playing eight matches in a span of just nine days, the Mavericks will enjoy a brief respite before preparing for the start of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.  They will open at home, taking on Western Colorado on Friday (Sept. 20) at 6 p.m. before hosting Fort Lewis next Saturday (Sept. 21) at 4 p.m.