GUNNISON, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks claimed their 25
th straight victory over rival Western Colorado University and extended their current winning streak to three while picking up their tenth victory of the 2025 season in 25-21, 25-22, 25-16 fashion over the Mountaineers in a Friday matinee here at the Paul W. Wright Gymnasium.
The Mavericks, now 10-4 overall and 4-1 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, hit .314 as a team as they completed the season sweep of the Mountaineers (1-14, 0-5 RMAC) after also knocking them off just ten days earlier at home in Grand Junction.
The Mavs' domination of the rivalry has dated back to 2012.
In Friday's win, CMU recorded 45 kills as a team as senior outside hitter
Sadie Scoville put down a match-high 13 on .321 hitting while also adding nine digs, five assists and four blocks. Freshman
Henley Madsen also chipped in 11 kills and hit .400 in the victory.
Maverick freshman setter
Ashlyn Tafoya recorded a season-high 32 assists and also added eight digs, six kills and a pair of blocks while senior libero
Allison Waller returned to the line and finished with a match-high 11 digs to help the Mavericks post a 41-35 digging advantage.
The Mountaineers finished with 32 kills as Anuhea Ka'Alele recorded 12 while hitting .556.
The first set was tied on five separate occasions and had Western in front by as many as five points at 11-6, 12-7 and 13-8 before the Mavs clawed back to within 13-12 on two consecutive Scoville kills followed by another from Tafoya.
The Mavs then went on to tie the set at 17 and again at 18 while on a 6-1 run capped by an
Emma Luce service ace to take a 21-18 lead.
Madsen then had three kills in the final stages of the set as
Aesha Alrashed finished it off with a kill of her own.
The second set was also tight and was tied on 11 separate occasions, including at 17 after Scoville kill which triggered a 4-1 Maverick run that also included a Tafoya kill and tandem block with Luce.
Leading 20-18 at that point, the Mavs were pressured as Western pulled within 22-21 before a Luce kill and two more by Madsen gave the Mavs the set.
The third set went CMU's way earlier on as the Mavs used a 9-4 extended run to build a 17-11 lead that proved to much form the Mountaineers to overcome as another 5-0 spurt with
Sienna Thatcher at the service line pushed the Mavs to the sweep.
Scoville had six of the Mavs' 12 third-set kills and hit .500 in the frame.
The Mavs will continue their journey on the Western slope, playing Fort Lewis College in Durango at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Like the Mavs, the Skyhawks are 10-4 overall and 4-1 in RMAC play having already matched their 2024 win total.
