GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — As her milestone 4,000^th career assist was announced to the crowd at Brownson Arena on Sept. 12, Sabrina VanDeList was oblivious to fans standing and cheering.

Her teammates gathered after the point, as always, and congratulated her. VanDeList's response was typical for the fifth-year senior: "What?"

"I was talking to Sydney (Leffler), actually, about the next play, so we weren't really paying attention, so yeah, I guess I missed that," VanDeList said a few days later, grinning.

Next play.

For the past five volleyball seasons, it's been "next play" for VanDeList, who is charged with running the Mavericks' system.

And she's run it as well as anyone. By the time this season ends, the senior setter from Severance (Fort Collins High School) will be one of the most decorated players in program history.

Her biographical page online scrolls through several screens, listing her honors, awards and seasonal highlights.

The numbers are eye-popping.

Entering the start of RMAC play this weekend (Western Colorado on Friday, Sept. 20, Fort Lewis on Saturday, Sept. 21, both at Brownson Arena), VanDeList has 4,144 career assists, second only to Jordyn Moody's 4,202. She's tied with Drew Choules for the aces record of 153, and is 11 digs from 1,000. It's likely by the time the weekend is over, she will have passed Moody to become only the 13th player in the rally scoring era (2001-present) with 1,000 or more digs and will be rewriting Choules' aces mark.

She will be the first Maverick to have 1,000 digs and 4,000 assists in her career.

"(CMU coach Dave) Fleming says it every day, the setters need to be consistent with everything," VanDeList said. "And I don't know, I feel like just being me and everybody being themselves on the court, that's how we've gotten to where we are today.

"I'm just very grateful, very grateful for who I've had in the program because I truly couldn't have done it without them each year."

Colorado Mesa's hitters will tell you they wouldn't have the success they've had — she's flanked by All-Americans Sierra Hunt and Sydney Leffler — without VanDeList. The way she can read a defense in the blink of an eye allows her to set the right hitter at the right time.

"I think that's one thing Sabrina is amazing at. She knows how to read the other side of the net and I tell her all the time, I don't know how she can see the other side of the court, but that's something that she does that I don't think a lot of setters can do, especially not in the RMAC," said Leffler, the 2023 RMAC Player of the Year and a two-time AVCA All-American outside hitter who has 1,228 career kills, fifth in program history in the rally scoring era and seventh all-time.

"I think she just sees the other side of the net and that goes back to that balance, she can see the other side of the net better than anyone can. That's definitely a strength."

VanDeList goes through a three-step process on every point.

"Fleming always talks about set the hot hitter," she said. "So it's who's my hot hitter, and then it's looking at the blocking matchups right away after that, who has the best chance. And then during the play, where's the middle going? That's kind of my three-step process, and if the middle is cheating, OK, I'm gonna go to the other hitter, stuff like that."

It's not all her, she's quick to say.

"The 'bro (libero) and people in the back row are also talking to me, push, flip," she said. "They're looking on the other side as well, so I get a lot of help from them."

When it comes to deciding who to set, VanDeList has options across the board. Although Leffler is often Option 1, defenses will load up the block against her. Leffler can counter that with how she attacks, but VanDeList knows a double block to Leffler's side means Hunt will be one-on-one on the right side, or there's always the Mavericks' bread-and-butter zero-tempo middle attack. In zero tempo, the middle hitter is in the air before the ball is set. In effect, the middle is putting the ball down just as it comes out of VanDeList's hands, beating the blocker.

"In her head, every situation is OK," Fleming said of his setter. "This is a perfect pass, the defense is holding on the hitters, this is the attacker I want to go to. But then if they start making adjustments on their side of the net, she's also very good at picking up that, hey, they're releasing (a second blocker to) Sydney, therefore the middle is available. They're releasing Sierra, now Sydney's available. She's always got that process going in her head."

No matter what VanDeList might call pre-serve, things can go sideways in a hurry. As good as the back row is, a pass can easily come off the side of the receiver's arm, sending VanDeList sprinting from one side of the court to the other. The hitters have to immediately read what she's doing and adjust accordingly.

"She turns your lemons into lemonade," Fleming said, "and she's really, really good at that. She can switch courts, if she's moved to her left, she does a great job of setting it to her right, and vice-versa. She pushes her left, she can set to her right, so middles have to hold, and she can basically set anywhere. And our attackers have to be ready for every set, too, because if you're up and available, she's going to find you."

Every hitter wants the ball, but VanDeList doesn't worry about keeping everyone happy — the Mavericks prioritize team over individual accomplishments.

"I mean, a win's a win," the ultra-competitive setter said. "Yeah, they want to provide that win and help with the win, but also, if someone's doing really good, they want to celebrate with them and everyone's so supportive. Maybe Sierra will get more kills one game and then Syd the next game, but they're gonna high-five each other after and say 'great job.' I don't think it's an issue, because if we're winning, everyone's happy."

There was never any doubt VanDeList would take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to players because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no one happier she took that year than Fleming.

Seven years ago, he was attending a club tournament, scouting another player. The NORCO setter caught his eye.

"A lay person, someone that doesn't understand volleyball really well doesn't necessarily recognize a good setter, because the hitters look really good," Fleming said. "If you've been in the coaching business long enough, you recognize the hitters are really good because that kid over there handling second contact, the setter, is really good.

"She has beautiful hands and she's really consistent where she puts the ball. I mean, she's just a really good volleyball player. She's a good defender. She would be a great libero for us, she's got a decent arm swing. I think the one thing that was kind of holding her back from that really high-level attention from the (Division I teams) is just her height, and we're OK with that."

VanDeList was one of two setters in the Mavs' 6-2 offense her freshman season, rotating with Ara Norwood in the back row, which allowed CMU to have three bigs on the front line at all times. She was so proficient that the next fall, Fleming ran a 5-1 offense, with VanDeList on the court at all times, even though it means she has to block on half of the rotations.

"A lot of people would (think) she's too short to be a blocker, but if you watch her block and right now, her blocking numbers are the same as Sierra Hunt's, basically in the same neighborhood, so she's right there. You can't take advantage of her," said Fleming, in his 20^th season as CMU's head coach.

VanDeList has 97 career blocks and takes pride in getting up to challenge attackers.

"Just having that, like, underdog mentality of, all right, it's time to go," she said. "Yes, they expect a lot from me, and I expect a lot from myself. So I think just taking on that role, I was like, 'All right, I can do it, and I'm going to do it,' and I know that my team and my coaches are going to support me the whole time that I'm out there."

They've been together so long, Fleming and VanDeList have a special connection.

"We don't really talk volleyball that much any more, Sabrina and I, just because we're kind of on the same page of what we expect and what we want this offense to look like," Fleming said. "It's short conversations in practice. Today, we're going to talk about rotation 2, how to get Sierra Hunt more involved, but it's more quick conversations because she wants the same thing: How do we get Sierra more involved in this rotation? She's super intelligent, a three-time Academic All-American (plus two more such honors in beach volleyball), never had a B."

It's no coincidence that the Mavericks have reached the NCAA regionals every year VanDeList has been at CMU other than the spring 2021 campaign, when there were no national playoffs. In that spring, the Mavericks went 15-1 and were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation.

She's a two-time honorable mention All-American, was the RMAC Freshman of the Year in the spring of 2021, the 2023 RMAC Setter of the Year, and the past two years earned the RMAC Summit Award, which goes to the top scholar-athlete in the conference playoffs.

It's all a balancing act, but like reading a defense, she's got that down pat. Right now, VanDeList is in the first semester of student teaching at Rocky Mountain Elementary School, enjoying teaching second-graders. She wants to teach the lower grades, first or second, and said coaching is a possibility at some point.

Much like her process of breaking down a defense, VanDeList breaks down her day, enabling her to be a straight-A student along with playing two sports, indoor and beach volleyball. Her freshman year, the Mavericks were playing both at the same time because the NCAA moved the majority of fall sports to the spring semester. Looking back, "playing two sports at the same time was absolutely insane," she said.

"With academics, I compete. OK, I'm going to get an A, that's my goal, and I'm very goal-oriented," VanDeList said. "Even with volleyball, OK, here are my goals and I'm going to work toward that. Just making sure that OK, volleyball practice is done, I can watch some film and then leave it and move on to school.

"You kind of have to compartmentalize and analyze things in college, just to make sure you can time manage and all of that. I wouldn't even bring homework on the road. It's volleyball time, I'm going to finish it before (getting on the bus), and then after practice, it was school time. It was very much one or the other."

Ever since she started playing volleyball at age 11, VanDeList knew she was competitive. Playing in college has shown her just how competitive she is, whether that's in the classroom, on the court or a "friendly" game of cards.

The numbers she's put up are great, but that's something she'll look at down the line. Right now, the volleyball goals are winning the conference title and a deep run in the national playoffs. And when asked what she'll remember most about her career, it's not the records.

"I'll always remember the teams that I've had and the people I've played with, no matter if we've won or lost, just how that team was and how fun people were," she said. "I think that's what I'll take from college sports, just how fun it was."