GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will look to get back to winning ways when they play in a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Power Pod matches this week at the Auraria Event Center in Downtown Denver.
 
The Mavericks (12-7) will take on the host and nation's 12^th-ranked MSU Denver Roadrunners on Thursday at 6 p.m. before squaring off with South Dakota Mines on Friday at the same time.
 
Neither match will count in the RMAC standings but are in essence non-conference, in-region affairs.  Both can be seen with a subscription to the RMAC Network (more information below).  Live statistics can be found here.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks had a 2-set lead but dropped the third and fourth sets before falling, 16-14 in the decisive fifth after leading it 5-1 in last Friday's heartbreaking loss at the Colorado School of Mines.
 
The loss dropped the Mavs to 6-4 in the RMAC standings.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Karsen Breeding put down a career-high 15 kills to lead the Mavericks' balanced offensive attack.  Fellow outside hitter Sadie Scoville and freshman setter Ashlyn Tafoya both recorded double-doubles.
 
Tafoya set career-highs for assists (49) and digs (17) while Scoville had 12 kills and 19 digs.
 
Libero Allison Waller also recorded a career-high 28 digs while freshman Henley Madsen had 14 kills.
 
A full match recap can be seen here.
 
Power(ful) Pod
 
The RMAC Power Pods are all this week and were formed based on last year's conference standings with three teams at each of five sites with matches being played Thursday through Saturday.
 
CMU's pod is made up of the top three teams from the 2024 standings and is being played at MSU Denver since the Roadrunners won the regular season title.  The Mavs took second while South Dakota Mines finished third in the conference standings.
 
Similarly, the fourth through sixth place teams in Colorado Christian, CSU Pueblo and Regis are all playing each other in a pod.  The seventh through ninth place finishers, the tenth through 12^th and 13^th through 15^th place finishers make up the other three pods.
 
Although these matches are against conference opponents, they will not count in this year's conference standings and are designed to help teams play teams or relative strength and to enhance the top team's strength of schedule numbers.

This marks the third consecutive year that the Mavs have been in the same pod at MSU Denver after the conference went to this scheduling format in 2023.  The Mavs have split the previous two Power Pad matches with MSU Denver and have gone 2-0 against Regis in the previous two.
 
Digging up the charts
 
Allison Waller recorded a career-high 28 digs in last Friday's match and now has a team-leading 200 this season while playing in 14 of the Mavs' 19 matches.
 
She eclipsed the 1,000 career dig milestone on the opening weekend of the season and now has 1,146 in her career, gradually moving up to the No. 8 position on CMU's rally-scoring era charts after starting the year ranked 13^th.
 
She needs just 57 more digs to match former teammate Sabrina VanDeList for the No. 7 spot.
 
100 and counting
 
New Maverick Head Coach Austin Albers picked up his 100^th NCAA win on Sept. 26 when the Mavericks beat then fifth-ranked MSU Denver in four sets.
 
Albers was hired as the Mavs' head coach in February after spending the previous six years at CSU Pueblo, where he posted a 93-61 (.604) overall record with the ThunderWolves.  At CSU Pueblo, he led the Pack to the RMAC Tournament in all six of his seasons in the Steel City while also guiding them to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022.
 
Including this year's start, Albers now has a 105-68 (.607) career record at the NCAA level and has won 247 collegiate matches in total.
 
Previously, Albers was the head coach at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he had a 145-57 career record before leaving as the program's all-time win percentage leader (.718).  He was inducted in to the school's athletics hall of fame in August alongside his 2017 and 2018 teams and two of his individual players.

Albers is just the third CMU Head Volleyball Coach in the last 43 years and replaces Dave Fleming, who departed for the same role at Division I North Texas in December, 2024 after 20 years in charge of the Maverick program.  Rusty Crick had served as the Mavs' coach for the previous 23 seasons from 1982-2004.
 
Freshman 500
 
Maverick freshman setter Ashlyn Tafoya's career-high 49 assists against the Colorado School of Mines put her at 500 for the season.
 
She is the first Maverick true freshman since 2011 (Jordyn Moody) to reach that mark in her debut campaign.
 
First Thursday
 
The match against MSU Denver will mark the first time that the Mavs have played on a Thursday this season and is the only scheduled match that the Mavs currently have on that day of the week this season although the NCAA regional could begin on a Thursday (Dec. 4).
 
The Mavs have won their last three regular season matches, a streak that dates back to 2023, and have won five of their last six overall Thursday matches.
 
About the MSU Denver Roadrunners
 
The Roadrunners are 17-3 overall and co-lead the RMAC standings with a 9-1 mark.  Their lone conference loss came to CMU back on Sept. 26 in Grand Junction in four sets.
 
They have since won eighth straight nine of their last ten and are continuing to sit in the No. 12 spot of the AVCA/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II poll.
 
The Roadrunners run an efficient offense that leads the RMAC while ranking ninth in the national statistics at .277.   They also lead the conference and rank 14^th in the country for kills per set (14.12).
 
Annika Helf leads the team with 239 kills (3.41/set) and is hitting .279 from her outside hitter position after earning First Team All-RMAC and All-South Central Region honors last season.  She ranks fifth in the conference for both total kills and kills per set.
 
Freshman setter Karyna Werley is a very versatile player who has 177 kills (2.42/set) while sitting second on the team with 409 assists (5.60/set) and third on the squad for digs with 126 (1.73/set).  She also ranks second on the team for service aces (0.30/set) and has recorded a pair of triple-doubles this season, one of which came against the Mavs.  She also ranks second in the RMAC for hitting percentage at .356.
 
Alyssa Boyte has 76 blocks (1.04/team) to lead the team and is third on the squad with 142 kills (1.95/set) and is hitting .346 to sit fourth in the conference.   She ranks third in the league for blocking.
 
Mia Accomazzo has 256 digs (3.51/set) to lead the team while Helf is right behind with 224 (3.20/set).
 
GabriElle Brewer has 32 service aces to sit second in the conference for that category.
 
About the Hardrockers
 
South Dakota Mines is 7-13 overall and 5-5 in RMAC play but has won two straight and three of the last four, all of which have been decided in straight sets.
 
They won at Regis and Chadron State last weekend after splitting a Oct. 17-18 home weekend against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State, beating the former and losing to the latter.
 
Lexi Glendenning and Morgan Daugherty have combined for 453 kills this season with Glendenning putting down 241 (3.44/set) to rank fourth in the RMAC.  Daugherty has 212 (3.03/set) and is hitting .254, 26 higher points than Glendinning, who takes more than 10 swings per set.
 
Defensively, Hannah Benes is once again, one of the top liberos in the conference and has recorded 347 digs (4.82/set) as the only Hardrocker to play in all 72 of their sets this season.  She also leads the team with 17 service aces and ranks second in the RMAC for digging.  She was the RMAC's Defensive Player of the Year last season.
 
Kiera Walsh leads the team with 47 blocks in 55 sets, good for an average of 0.85 per.   The team is averaging 2.05 per set to sit third in the conference.
 
Setter Hannah Joseph has started 17 of the team's 20 matches and has tallied 528 assists (7.54/set).
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks have won the last two matches against MSU Denver, winning in four sets at home earlier this season on Sept. 26 when the Roadrunners were ranked fifth in the country.  They also claimed another 4-set win over the No. 1 MSU Denver in last year's RMAC Power Pod in Denver on Nov. 2, 2024.
 
The Roadrunners had won the previous eight match-ups since 2021 and hold a 38-13 lead in the series in the NCAA Division II era (1992-Present).  The Roadrunners also lead the series, 22-4 when playing at home.
 
The Mavs lead the series with South Dakota Mines, 11-1, but suffered their only loss to the Hardrockers in the 2024 regular season finale on Nov. 16 in Rapid City, South Dakota.  That match went five sets and was decided by a 15-13 margin in the last.
 
Friday's match will mark the first time that the Mavs and Hardrockers will meet on a neutral court.
 
RMAC Network News
 
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-pre-view model for the upcoming 2025-26 season.  This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
 
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
 
Colorado Mesa turns 100
 
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
 
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will return to the official conference slate and will play their final two home matches of the regular season next week.  They will host Chadron State on Friday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in their Parent's Night Match before taking on Regis on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. in their Senior Night affair.