GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will begin the 2024 season looking to build upon their recent successes and take the next step when they take to the court at against some top-level competition and new opponents at this weekend's Oredigger Classic in Golden and the Colorado School of Mines' Lockridge Arena.

The Mavericks, ranked 17^th in the AVCA's Division II Preseason Poll, will play four matches in the season-opening tournament, facing Gannon and perennial NCAA Division II power Concordia St.-Paul, ranked fifth in the poll, at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday before facing Michigan Tech and Concord on Saturday at Noon and 5 p.m., respectively.

Mines will also host Missouri Western and Regis in the 8-team classic style tournament with a pre-determined schedule that will feature 16 matches over two days on two courts. 

Tournament Coverage

A live stream of all 16 matches can be found on the RMAC Network and live statistics can be found at these two links – COURT 1 / COURT 2.  The Mavericks will play their first match against Gannon on Court 1 and the other three on Court 2.  Mines' tournament page is where to go to purchase tickets.  That page also lists preferred restaurants and hotels and has the complete tournament schedule.

Triple Threat

The Mavericks dominated the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Postseason Awards in 2023 claiming the RMAC Player, Setter and Defensive Player of the Year accolades.  All three award-winning Mavericks in Sydney Leffler (Player), Sabrina VanDeList (Setter) and Allison Waller (Defensive) return in 2024 and were also named to the First Team All-RMAC squad a year ago.

All-American Trio

Leffler & VanDeList also earned all-America honors in 2023 while another returning Maverick in Sierra Hunt will return after redshirting due to injury last season.  Hunt was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2022.

Leffler was named as First Team AVCA All-American last year as the first Maverick since Kasie Gilfert (2018) to earn such high praise.  She was also named as the D2CCCA South Central Regional Player of the Year and was a second team all-America pick from that organization.  Leffler was also an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2021 as a freshman.

VanDeList earned Honorable Mention All-America honors for the first time last season and became the first Maverick to ever earn four First Team All-RMAC honors.  She is taking advantage of the NCAA's COVID eligibility waiver to play a fifth season this fall after her true freshman year (2020/21) was disjointed by the pandemic.

A look back

The Mavericks had a strong 2023 season, going 24-5 overall while posting a 12-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record to finish in a second place tie in the conference standings.  They qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year but were eliminated in the opening round by Dallas Baptist University, a team they defeated during their 11-0 start to the campaign.
 
The Mavericks were also the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Tournament and advanced to the semifinals after a quarterfinal win over Colorado Christian but were stopped in the semifinals by Regis, a team the Mavs defeated twice during the regular season.

The Mavericks had four first team and six overall All-RMAC selections and had four players earn D2CCA All-South Central region honors, three of whom were also AVCA First Team All-Region selections.

Milestones & Records Looming

Maverick setter Sabrina VanDeList will have a strong chance at breaking two Maverick career records during her fifth season of eligibility this fall.

The Severance, Colorado native was named as the RMAC Setter of the Year in 2023 after leading the conference and South Central Region in assists with 1,176, the highest total for any Maverick in seven years.  She also ranked third in the country for assists per set (11.64) and was named as an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American after picking up First Team All-South Central Region honors from both the AVCA and D2CCA while becoming the first Maverick in program history to claim four First Team All-RMAC honors.

She will enter the 2024 campaign with 3,816 career assists and 141 career aces with chances to set the CMU career records in the first half of the 2024 season.  VanDeList is also just 80 digs away from the 1,000 career milestone and is just 184 assists away from becoming the third Maverick to ever record, 4,000 career assists.  Only 12 previous Mavericks have reached the 1,000 career dig milestone.

VanDeList stands in third place on CMU's all-time career assists chart entering the season, just 384 shy of Jordyn Moody's record of 4,202, set between 2011-14.  Jeanie Sutter is second on the career assists chart with 4,138, just 322 more than VanDeList currently has. Sutter played for the Mavericks from 1995-98.

VanDeList Is also ranked second on the Mavs' career aces chart with 141, just 12 shy of the Maverick record of 153, set by Drew Choules from 2004-07.

Stellar Hitter

Maverick senior outside hitter Sydney Leffler became the first Maverick in six years to surpass the 1,000 career milestone and will enter her final collegiate season with 1,109 career kills.  That total ranks her fifth on CMU's rally-scoring era (2001-Present) charts and ninth overall.

Amy Miller holds the all-time record of 2,228 while Nikki Kneuer (Green) holds the rally-scoring era record of 1,668. 

Leffler led the RMAC with 441 kills last season en-route to RMAC and D2CCA South Central Regional Player of the Year honors and would need an even stronger season of 559 career kills to catch

Kneuer, who played from 2002-05.   If Leffler were to match her 441 kill output from her junior season, she would finish fourth on the Mavs' all-time kills chart with 1,562, which would also be the third highest in the rally-scoring era.  Stacey Vogel (1,583) and Drew Choules (1,440) sit behind Miller and Kneuer.

In the polls

The Mavericks will begin the year ranked 17^th in the preseason edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II Coaches' 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 28 consecutive polls since early in the 2022 season.

The Mavericks were also picked second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll behind MSU Denver and ahead of Regis.  MSU Denver was picked seventh in the AVCA national poll while Regis was selected 13^th in the national poll.

Transfers Times Two

The Mavericks have added two transfers to this year's indoor volleyball roster, both of whom were on campus in the spring of 2024.

Redshirt freshman pin hitter Emma Luce joined the program in January after redshirting at Division I Stephen F. Austin, which won the Western Athletic Conference regular season title, in the fall of 2023.  Luce was the Colorado 2A Player of the Year as a senior at Meeker High School, highlighting a look list of prep volleyball accolades.

Meanwhile, senior Stormi Tadlock will wrap up her indoor career with the Mavericks after spending the three previous indoor seasons at Division II Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.  Tadlock, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, also came to CMU in January and played on the Mavericks' beach volleyball team last spring before being added to the indoor roster over the summer. 

Tadlock recorded 549 kills and 205 blocks in 82 career matches over the past three seasons at Drury and earned Second Team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors as a sophomore in 2022.

New Faces

The Mavericks also added six freshman to the 2024 roster, a group that hails from three states in a variety of positions.  The group includes three Coloradoans, including local Grand Junction product and Central High School graduate Rhyan Mason.   Lindsay Heyliger of Lone Tree and Rock Canyon High School and Jaycee Windorkski of Leadville and Lake County High School also decided to stay at home in Colorado to play for the Mavericks.

CMU also added two Gallatin High School teammates and Bozeman, Montana natives in outside hitter Karsen Breeding and setter Addie Swanson, who have already built a strong connection, a major benefit for the Mavericks in 2024 and in the future.
 
They also added middle blocker Lauren Waters, who hails from Highland, Utah.  She was a first team all-region pick at Pleasant Grove High School.

Back Row Experience

The Mavericks will have one of the deepest and most experienced back-row lineups in the country, a unit that helped the Mavericks rank third in the RMAC for digs (15.66/set), opponent hitting percentage (.190), opponent service aces (1.16/set) a year ago.

RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Allison Waller is expected to lead the way again as the Mavs' libero in 2024 while seniors Hahni Johson, a fifth-year senior who is also a back-up setter, and Jordan Woods along with sophomore Marli Clausi will all be looking to contribute as veteran defensive specialists.  Rhyan Mason, one of the aforementioned freshman, Is also part of the group and will look to contribute significantly in 2024 and beyond.

Veteran Floor Boss

Maverick Head Coach Dave Fleming returns for his 20^th season in charge of the Maverick program and will once again be assisted by Bri Strong, entering her fifth year with the program.  CMU students Mahlia Glass, the team's director of volleyball operations, and technical coordinator Keylee Reynolds also return in upgraded roles.

Fleming is the longest-serving and winningest active head coach in the RMAC, racking up 367 career wins and a .673 winning percentage (367-178) in his previous 19 seasons.  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.

Hoping for a History repeating
 
In their last four appearances in the Oredigger Volleyball Classic, the Mavericks have gone a combined 12-4 to open their 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons.  The Mavs will be hoping for a repeat of that success this weekend after going 4-0 last year as part of their 11-0 overall start.  The Mavs also went 3-1 in both 2019 and 2022 Oredigger Classics.  They went 2-2 at the tournament in 2021.

The Mavs had three selections to last year's all-tournament team in MVP Sydney Leffler, Sabrina VanDeList and fifth-year senior Emma Shaddix, now the assistant coach at Seattle Pacific.  The Mavs also swept the Week No. 1 RMAC Player of the Week honors with Leffler (Offensive), VanDeList (Setter) and Allison Waller (Defensive).  Leffler also went on to be named as the AVCA's National Player of the Week after putting down 74 kills (5.29/set) while hitting .382 in last year's 4-0 start.

The Mavs also had two selections to the 2022 Oredigger Classic All-Tournament team in now graduated MVP Erin Curl and Sierra Hunt, who returns to the active roster in 2024 after redshirting due to injury last season. 

VanDeList was named to the all-tournament team as a redshirt freshman in 2021 alongside former Maverick standout Holly Schmidt.

About the Opponents

Gannon – Friday – 11 a.m.

The Golden Knights, who hail from downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, have been picked as the preseason favorite in the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) West Division after winning last year's division title with a 14-2 record.  They also won a second consecutive PSAC Tournament championship in 2023 and hosted the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional before losing in the second round at the end of what was a strong 27-5 season.

Four AVCA All-Americans return to Coach Matt Darling's team, including third team pick Journey Blevins.  Emma Hall and Hailey Koch, a native of Littleton, Colorado, were also honorable mention all-Americans last year while setter Bengisu Arslan, who battled injuries in 2023, was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2022.

The Golden Knights, who are receiving votes in the Preseason AVCA poll, have posted a 228-39 record since 2016 and have won three PSAC titles while reaching the final four of the national tournament on a pair of occasions.

Concordia St.-Paul – Friday – 6 p.m.

The Golden Bears have been the gold standard of Division II volleyball.  The Minnesotans have won nine national titles and reached the NCAA Central Region Championship match for the 19^th time in the past 20 years after winning a seventh NSIC Tournament a year ago, helping them earn the No. 1 seed and the right to host the regional.

Their nine national titles are more than twice the total of any other program (4) and included a stretch of seven straight from 2007-13.  The Golden Bears also won the 2016 and 2017 titles and were the national runners-up in 2022.

They went 30-3 last year, which was good for their highest winning percentage since winning the 2017 national title winning season.

Three of their five AVCA all-Americans from last year have graduated although senior Emma Schmidt returns after earning third team honors after averaging 3.55 digs and 2.73 kills per set last year.  Fellow senior Sophia Anderson also returns after averaging 3.40 kills per set while hitting an efficient .310 to garner honorable mention accolades a year ago.

Brady Starkey, the winningest active coach in Division II with an .883 winning percentage (635-84) over his previous 20 years, will guide a team that has been picked fifth in the AVCA Preseson Poll.

Michigan Tech – Saturday- Noon

The Huskies are coming off a 15-16 season in 2023 and will return four All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) selections from last year's team that went 10-8 during GLIAC play.  They have been picked third in the GLIAC Preseason Poll this year after reaching the GLIAC semifinals for the seventh straight year in 2023.

Fifty-year senior Kaycee Meiners was a First Team All-GLIAC pick last year and led the conference in blocks per set (1.42) while finishing fifth in hitting percentage at .334.  Meg Raabe earned second team honors as a six rotation player and averaged 3.43 kills per set as a sophomore in 2023.

Tess Hayes also returns for Head Coach Matt Jennings after being named as the GLIAC Freshman of the Year.  She was second in the GLIAC for assists per set (9.71) last season.

2023 was a bit of sub-par season for the Huskies, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament on four straight occasions from 2017-21, including a pair of NCAA Regional Semifinal appearances.  They have also been able to win 20 or more matches in five straight full seasons under Jennings from 2017-2022, excluding the COVID-effected 2021 spring season, when they went 11-4 in an abbreviated schedule.

Concord – Saturday – 5 p.m.

The Concord Mountain Lions, who hail from Athens, West Virginia, have been picked third in the Mountain East Conference South Division Poll after going 16-15 overall in 2023, racking up their most wins since 2016.  They also won six MEC match-ups, their most since 2017.

Sophomore outside hitter Meg Williams headlines the list of returns for 16^th year head coach Kate Dillon, who has added nine freshman to the roster.  Williams was a Second Team All-MEC pick in 2023 after recording 401 kills, the second most in the MEC and the third most in the program's single-season history.

Senior middle Kyndra Pilant also added 223 kills and a team-leading 99 blocks last year while Dillon returns a pair of sophomore setters in Pagie Richmond and Declyn Tooze.  Richmond had 602 assists and an impressive 63 aces while Tooze had 469 assists and 44 aces last year.

Series Histories

The Mavericks have never faced Gannon, Michigan Tech nor Concord and are 0-2 all-time against Concordia St.-Paul.  The Mavericks last faced the Golden Bears in 2014 at the Colorado Premier Challenge in Denver.  The Golden Bears won that match in four sets after coming off a seventh straight national title and were ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll at the time.

CSP's other win in the rivalry came back in 2007 and was in Golden at the start of what was their first national title-winning season.

Up Next

After playing this weekend's four matches, the Mavericks will return home to host the Holiday Inn Express Maverick Fall Classic next week in Brownson Arena.  They will play four matches during that 3-day tournament taking on Cal Poly Humboldt, MSU Moorhead and Cal State Dominguez Hills on consecutive evenings from Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 12-14.  They will also host Angelo State in a key NCAA South Central Regional clash earlier in the afternoon at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday.

They then begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Play on Sept. 20 against Western Colorado.