GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After playing their last six matches at home, the now nation's 18
th-ranked Colorado Mesa University Maverick volleyball team (8-2 overall) will head out on the road to play their first three true away matches in a span of just five days.
The stretch begins on Friday at 6 p.m. in Denver, when the Mavericks will clash with national poll No. 2 MSU Denver (9-1), which along with the Mavericks is part of a 5-way tie for first place in the early Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings at 2-0. The Mavs will then play at the Colorado School of Mines (4-6, 1-1 RMAC) in Golden on Saturday at 5 p.m. before heading home to Grand Junction for a brief respite.
The Mavs will then wrap up the stretch on Tuesday with a RMAC Regional Pod match-up at Westminster. That match will not count in the RMAC standings.
All three matches will be
streamed on the RMAC Network and live stat links can be found at the links above.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks opened up conference play with a pair of 3-set home sweeps over Western Colorado and Fort Lewis last Friday night. Both wins featured record-setting efforts from setter
Sabrina VanDeList, who recorded 76 assists (12.67/set) while orchestrating the Maverick attack, which hit a combined .335 as a team against the Mountaineers and Skyhawks.
More about VanDeList's records and milestones can be found in the notes below.
Meanwhile, senior outside hitter
Sydney Leffler put down 27 kills, good for a 4.50 per set average, while hitting an efficient .426. Middle
Nicole Martin was also in double figures for both matches, recording 22 kills over the week on .349 hitting. Right side
Sierra Hunt also put down 19 kills while
Stormi Tadlock managed 12 on .578 hitting from the second middle position.
Defensively, Martin recorded nine blocks (1.59/set) while Leffler finished with eight, including a career-high six in the win over Western Colorado.
Libero
Allison Waller tallied 32 digs (5.33/set) and was perfect on 16 service receptions as well.
Full recaps of both matches can be seen below.
Record Setter
Maverick setter
Sabrina VanDeList set a pair of CMU career records last weekend, eclipsing one in each victory. On just the second point of the Friday night win over VanDeList, the Severance, Colorado native tallied her 154
th career service ace to go past Drew Choules (2004-07) and to the top spot on the Mavs' all-time charts by herself. VanDeList added two more aces over the weekend and now has 156, three more than Choules.
Then late in the second set of Saturday's win over Fort Lewis, VanDeList recorded her 4,203
rd career assist moving past Jordyn Moody's former record of 4,202 from 2011-14. VanDeList finished that match with 39 and now has 4,220 in her career.
VanDeList leads the NCAA Division II statistics in assists per set this season at 12.24 and ranks third in career assists amongst active Division II players with her new total. She also ranks sixth in the RMAC for service aces with 15 and aces per set (0.45).
13th Member of the 1K club
Sabrina VanDeList also became just the 13
th member of the Mavericks' all-time 1,000 career dig club on Saturday. She entered last weekend with 989 career digs and recorded nine in Friday's win over Western Colorado before getting two of her six Saturday digs early in the first set to reach the milestone.
Former teammate Kerstin Layman was the last Maverick to reach the milestone, doing so in 2021 before finishing her career in 2022 with 1,617 digs.
Maverick junior libero
Allison Waller could also join the club late this season having recorded 140 digs so far this season, allowing her to increase her career total to 710. If she matches her 2023 total of 433, Waller will finish this season with 1,003.
Awards and Awards
The Mavericks claimed two of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards as
Sabrina VanDeList earned her second consecutive RMAC Setter of the Week award, the 16
th of her career after her stellar weekend.
She was also named as the
World Exposure Report's NCAA Division II Player of the Week. WER is a website and sports media company.
Meanwhile, libero
Allison Waller was named as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season and the fourth time in her career. She earned three weekly awards in 2023 en route to RMAC Defensive Player of the Year honors a year ago.
Continuing to lead
Maverick outside hitter
Sydney Leffler added 27 kills last weekend to her total and now has put down a RMAC-leading 146 this year. She also added eight blocks and a service ace last weekend increasing her total point total to 172, which also leads the RMAC.
Leffler ranks sixth in the country for points per set (5.21) and is 11
th nationally in kills per set at 4.42 and paces the conference in both of the average categories as well.
She has been in double figures for kills in ten matches this season and has raised her career kills total to 1,255, moving past Alisan Tompkins (2006-09) into sixth place on the Mavs' all time charts.
Leffler now needs another 134 kills to move into the top five of CMU history. Pam Glenn currently sits fifth with 1,389.
200 is the Key
The Mavericks are 8-0 this season when hitting above .200 as a team this season. However, both of their losses have come when the Mavs hit below that mark. The Mavs have hit well over .300 in each of their last three matches and have been above that mark in each of their last five wins as well.
Block Party
The Mavs turned last weekend into a party at the net, recording their best two blocking efforts of the season last weekend, recording what was a then season-high nine blocks against Western Colorado on Friday night. The Mavs got even more jiggy with their blocking celebrations on Saturday afternoon against Fort Lewis, recording 13 blocks, which is their highest total in nearly three years.
Nicole Martin recorded a career-high six blocks in the win over Fort Lewis while
Sierra Hunt also set a new career-high with five against the Skyhawks.
Sydney Leffler had a career-high six blocks in the win over Western Colorado.
Title Decider?
Friday's match-up with MSU Denver is bound to have a major impact on the RMAC title chase as the two teams have been the only ones to win the RMAC title this decade. CMU won the crown with an undefeated conference record in the spring of 2021 after the normal 2020 fall season was delayed and abbreviated due to COVID. The MSU Denver Roadrunners have since gone on to win the last three titles, dropping just one RMAC regular season match in that time (2021-23).
The two teams will enter Friday's match with a combined 17-3 overall record and are both 2-0 in RMAC play early in 2024, part of a 5-way tie for first place in the early RMAC standings as is CSU Pueblo, South Dakota Mines and Westminster.
The Roadrunners received seven of the possible first place votes in this year's preseason coaches' poll and topped the poll with 189 points while the Mavs garnered six first place votes to check in second in the poll with 183 points.
In addition to going a match ahead of the other in the RMAC standings, the winner of Friday's encounter in the Roadrunners' Auraria Event Center will have the advantage in potential tie-breaker situations for RMAC Tournament seeding and hosting rights.
The two teams will also meet in Denver on Nov. 2 during the RMAC's Power Pod Weekend. That match will certainly have NCAA Tournament qualification and seeding ramifications but will not figure into the RMAC standings nor tournament seeding procedures.
The Roadrunners will be the second top five national opponent of the season for the Mavs, who earlier knocked off then fifth-ranked Concordia St. Paul during the season-opening Oredigger Volleyball Classic.
First Away Match
Friday's match will also serve as the Mavs' first true away match of the season and will be the first of three straight away matches over a 5-day stretch. CMU did play their first four matches of the year on a neutral court, going 3-1 during the aforementioned Oredigger Volleyball Classic. They have then been home for the last two weekends of the season, going a combined 5-1 with a 3-1 mark during the Holiday Inn Express Maverick Fall Classic before this past weekend's 2-0 RMAC sweep.
However, the road has been fairly kind to the Mavs, who went 6-2 in away matches last season after posting a 7-4 mark in 2022 and an 8-2 mark in the fall of 2021. They also went 6-0 in the spring of 2021 and have posted a winning record in away matches in each of the past four seasons since going 5-6 in 2019.
Home Sweet Home
Although the road has been kind, the Mavericks have certainly taken consistent advantage of their home and supportive crowd in Brownson Arena. The Mavs are 5-1 at home thus far in 2024 and have not lost more than a single home match in each of the previous six seasons, a streak they will try to extend this year.
The Mavs were 13-1 at home last and went 8-1 in 2022. After last weekend, the Mavericks are now 58-7 (.892) since the start of 2018 at home. The Mavs are also 94-15 (.862) in their last 109 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 conference 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 109-24 (.820) since the start of 2012.
In the polls
Despite going 2-0, the Mavericks slipped a spot in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll, which was released on Monday. The Mavs are now ranked 18
th after sitting 17
th in the Week 2 and preseason polls while moving up to 15
th in the Week No. 1 poll.
CMU has now been ranked amongst the nation's top 25 in 31 consecutive polls since early in the 2022 season.
Tampa retained the No. 1 spot in this week's poll while MSU Denver remained in the No. 2 spot heading into the weekend. Nebraska-Kearney, Southwest Minnesota State and Missouri-St. Louis round out the top five while Concordia-St. Paul, who the Mavs beat on Sept. 6 is now ranked ninth, one spot above their No. 10 ranking from a week ago.
West Texas A&M is now ranked tenth after sitting third a week ago while Angelo State, which is off to a 10-1 start, including a win over the Mavs, jumped seven spots to 14
th after beating both West Texas A&M and then 20
th-ranked and now No. 23 Dallas Baptist, which is the last of five South Central Regional teams in the top 25,
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 375 career wins and a .676 winning percentage (375-180) in his tenure. He has also won 248 RMAC matches and has an impressive .729 winning percentage (248-92) within the conference and is one of just six RMAC Coaches to have 300 or more overall wins while coaching in the league.
He could reach the 250 conference win mark as early as Saturday.
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, an abbreviated season.
The Mavs also have reached the NCAA Tournament ten times under Fleming, including in each of the last three.
About the Opponents
MSU Denver – Friday (6 p.m.)
The Roadrunners are enjoying yet another strong season thus far in 2024, going 9-1 overall. They are ranked second in the AVCA Poll for the second straight week and have lost just one RMAC regular season match in the last three years, going 51-1 in that stretch, including the 2-0 start this year.
They have been in the NCAA South Central Regional final in each of the last three years.
This year's Roadrunner squad has several fresh faces, but also some talented returners, many who are in expanded roles. One mainstay is senior outside hitter Riley Anderson, who leads the team in kills with 123, good for a 3.51 per set average. The First Team All-RMAC and Second Team AVCA All-American from 2023 recently eclipsed the 1,000 career kill mark and is hitting .320 from her outside hitter position.
The Roadrunners are hitting .302 as a team to lead the RMAC in attack percentage while ranking third nationally. They also hold opponents to a RMAC-leading .147 attack percentage, largely thanks to recording more than three blocks (3.04) per set to lead the conference and sit second nationally.
Sophomore Kryssa Moerman has tallied 52 blocks to lead the team and the RMAC with her 1.49 per set average while freshman middle Alyssa Boyte is second on the team in the conference with 49 (1.40/set). Outside hitter Maddy Williams has 43 blocks to her credit and is tied for fourth in the league with her 1.23 per set average.
Abbie McCrimmon leads the back row with 128 digs (3.66/set) while Annika Helf has 17 service aces while standing second behind Anderson with 89 kills (3.42/set). Helf was a NJCAA First Team All-American last year at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling and hails from Germany.
Veteran setters Delaney Eckhardt and Amela Quershia typically run a 6-2 system under ninth year Coach Jenny Glenn and are averaging just over 11 assists per set combined. They have also combined for 21 aces.
Glenn registered her 200
th career win on Saturday against Chadron State and is 200-48 (.806) in her tenure. She is an even more impressive 127-9 (.934) in RMAC matches.
Colorado School of Mines – Saturday (5 p.m.)
The Orediggers will enter the weekend and a Friday night match against Westminster with a 4-6 overall record. They are 1-1 in conference play after sweeping Chadron State on the road last Friday before dropping a 4-set match at Colorado Christian on Saturday.
Fifth-year senior pin hitter Hannah Kinnison is leading the Orediggers with 114 kills (3.08/set) so far this season after earning Honorable Mention All-America honors at Angelo State last year. She has been in double figures for kills in six of the Orediggers' ten matches and has put down seven or more in nine of them but was held to just four kills on negative .063 hitting against Colorado Christian.
Four other Orediggers are also averaging more than two kills per set in Jenna McLaughlin, Taylor Helms, Kate Kudlac and Morgan McChesney, the last of whom did not play in Mines' first four matches. McLaughlin has 79 kills and is hitting .294, the highest mark of the regular Mines hitters.
Brinleigh Davis and Presley Powell have split starts and time in the setter position with Davis averaging 8.44 assists per set in her 25 sets and seven match starts. Powell has a slightly better 8.82 per set average in 17 sets played while making three starts.
Kinnison also leads the Orediggers in digging with 137 (3.70/set) while McLaughlin has recorded 38 blocks (1.06/set).
As their record would indicate, the Orediggers are near the middle of the RMAC in most team statistical categories. However, they are fourth in blocking, having averaged 2.05 blocks per set thus far.
Westminster – Tuesday (6 p.m.)
The Griffins are off to a solid 2-0 start in conference play and have the conference's longest current winning streak at four matches. They rank second in the RMAC in attack percentage defense, holding their opponents to a .166 mark but are near the middle of the RMAC pack in most offensive categories.
One glaring exception to that is their ability to serve. The Griffins have registered 81 service aces already to lead the RMAC with their 2.31 per set average. They have three of the top seven individual servers in the conference, including Alex Thon, who has averaged 0.63 per set to rank second in the conference.
Breegan Huntsman leads the team in kills with 93 (3.04/set) while Claire Cook is right behind with 85 (2.50set). Mailei Myers also has 73 (2.09/set) and is hitting .312. She is also second on the team with 16 aces, behind Alanna Lee, who has 17. Thon has 12 despite having played in just 19 of the Griffins' 35 total sets.
Setters Leila Cornejo and Josie Gerritsen have combined for more than 308 assists while Lee leads the team with 155 digs, good for a 4.43 per set average that ranks her eighth in the RMAC. Myers has recorded 32 blocks, including 16 solos to lead the Griffins in that category. She is ranked ninth in the RMAC.
The Griffins are on a similar road trip to the Denver area to face Mines and MSU Denver before returning home to face the Mavs on Tuesday.
Series Histories
The Roadrunners hold a 37-11 advantage in the series with the Mavs and have won the last seven meetings since the Mavericks claimed a 2021 spring season win in Grand Junction. The Mavs have won in the Auraria Events Center just three times in 24 tries against the Roadrunners, the last of which came in 2015. CMU swept the 2018 season series winning a home match in September and the RMAC Tournament final in Golden.
Roadrunner Coach Jenny Glenn is 14-3 against the Mavs and
Dave Fleming in her coaching tenure at MSU Denver. Fleming is 10-26 against the Roadrunners in his time with the Mavs.
The Mavs are 24-19 against Mines in the NCAA Division II era (1992-Present) and have won the last two match-ups. They are 11-10 against the Orediggers in Golden, last winning their in the spring of 2021 before dropping a match in the fall of that year. The last two regular season matches have been played in Grand Junction. Six of the last 13 match-ups have been decided in five sets.
Fleming is 11-15 against the Orediggers in his time with the Mavs and is 8-14 against his Oredigger counterpart Jamie Magalei, who is second behind active RMAC coaches behind Fleming with 358 career wins. MSU Denver's Jenny Glenn is third in that category with 200 career victories.
The Mavericks have been much more dominant against Westminster, winning 17 straight and 19 of the 20 all-time meetings with the Griffins, who recorded their only win over CMU back in 2015 in what was the Griffins' first year as RMAC members.
Fleming is also 19-1 against the Griffins in his tenure and is 4-0 against now third-year Westminster coach Sue Delaney, who helped the Griffins earn their first RMAC Tournament spot a year ago. All four of those wins have come in straight sets.
Up Next
After the road stretch, the Mavericks will return home for three straight matches in a span of eight days. They will host Western Colorado for the second time in 15 days on Saturday, Oct. 5 in another RMAC Regional Pod match before returning to official conference play on Friday, Oct. 11 against CSU Pueblo. They then host Adams State on Oct. 12.
