GOLDEN, Colo.— Career-high numbers from sophomore outside hitter Karsen Breeding, senior libero Allison Waller and freshman setter Ashlyn Tafoya were not quite enough as the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team lost a 2-set lead and eventually an intense and marathon 5-set match the host Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in a 2-hour and 45-minute battle on Friday night here in Lockridge Arena.
 
The Mavs won the first two sets, 25-17 and 25-20 and had a 5-1 lead in the decisive fifth, which Mines won, 16-14.
 
The Orediggers, now 15-4 overall, won the third and fourth sets, 25-22 and 25-17 and moved past the Mavs for fifth place in the RMAC standings with a 6-3 RMAC record.
 
CMU fell to 12-7 overall and to 6-4 in the conference.
 
Breeding put down a career-high 15 kills to lead a balanced Maverick effort, which also saw fellow outside hitter Sadie Scoville and Tafoya both record double-doubles.  Tafoya also set new career-highs for assists (49), digs (17) and kills (6) while Scoville finished with 12 kills and 19 digs.
 
However, Scoville was also guilty of 11 of CMU's season-high 32 attack errors, 17 of which were forced by a tough Oredigger blocking game.
 
Waller recorded 28 digs for the Mavs.
 
Meanwhile, Henley Madsen finished with 14 kills as the Mavs finished with a 65-56 advantage in total kills.
 
Aesha Alrashed also had nine kills while Macy Wood added eight.
 
However, the Orediggers had nine more blocks than the Mavs and relied on 16 kills from Amanda Donais Dudley to get the win.  Dudley, who hit .308, also had seven blocks.
 
The Mavs hit .370 and .371 in the first two sets and then built a 15-10 lead in the third before the Orediggers went on a 6-0 run to take a 16-15 lead.
 
The Mavs then scored three straight points to go up 18-16 in the third and later held a 22-21 lead.
 
However, the Orediggers then won the final four points of the set to remain alive before recording seven blocks in the fourth.
 
With the overall match level, the Mavs then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth as Breeding recorded three kills and a block alongside Macy Wood in a 5-0 run that Tafoya started with a kill from a Breeding assist.
 
However, the Orediggers again fought back and tied the set at 8.
 
The teams then exchanged points as the set would also be tied at 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 after a Oredigger service error.
 
The Mavs then momentarily went up 14-13 on an apparent hitting error, which was overturned on video replay challenge as the score reversed to the Orediggers' favor on a Dudley kill
 
Tafoya then recorded a kill to level the score at 14.
 
Francesa Nuzzo then put down her tenth kill for Mines before Jenna McLaughlin and Dudley recorded the Orediggers' final block to record the win.
 
The Mavericks will take a break from official RMAC matches and will be back in the metropolitan area next week, playing at MSU Denver and against South Dakota Mines in RMAC Power Pod matches at the Roadrunners' Auraria Events Center next Thursday and Friday, respectively.