GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After advancing to their sixth straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will look to take it another step when they take on the host, top-seeded and nation's ninth-ranked MSU Denver Roadrunners on Friday night in downtown Denver.
 
The match will begin at 5 p.m. in the Roadrunners' Auraria Event Center.
 
The fifth-seeded Mavericks will enter the match as winners of five straight overall and with a 17-9 overall record.  The Roadrunners have won 15 straight matches and are 24-3 overall.
 
The match can be seen with a subscription to the RMAC Network (more information below).

Live statistics can be found at the link above.
 
Tickets can be purchased through the RMAC ticketing portal here.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks went on the road to win their RMAC Tournament quarterfinal match-up at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden on Tuesday night, pulling out a 16-14 decision in the decisive fifth set.
 
All five sets in the marathon match that lasted two hours and 46 minutes were decided by the minimum of two points.
 
The Mavericks posted some monster statistical nights as Sadie Scoville recorded 25 kills and a career-high 23 digs while fellow outside hitter Karsen Breeding and middle blocker Macy Wood also recorded career-high totals of 17 kills and 16 kills, respectively.  Setter Ashlyn Tafoya also had a double-double (37 assists, 12 digs) while libero Allison Waller finished with 26 digs.
 
The Mavs finished the match with 81 kills and 91 digs, their highest totals of the season.  The kill total is also the fourth highest in the rally scoring era (2001-Present) and the Mavs' highest in any match in 18 years.

For a complete recap of the thriller, click here.
 
Updated Bracket
 
The updated RMAC Tournament bracket can be seen here and shows the Mavs as the only lower seeded team to advance to the championship semifinals.  No. 1 seed MSU Denver, No. 2 seed UCCS and No. 3 seed CSU Pueblo all won 4-set home matches in the quarterfinal round over Adams State, Fort Lewis and Westminster, respectively.
 
After the Mavs' match-up, UCCS and CSU Pueblo will face each other in the second semifinal on Friday, slated for a 7:30 p.m. start.  The two semifinal winners will then play in Saturday championship match at 5 p.m.
 
20-20 and then some
 
Sadie Scoville's RMAC Tournament quarterfinal was one for the ages as she became the first Maverick since Mackenzie Edwards in the 2016 RMAC Tournament to record more than 20 kills and more than 20 digs in the same match.  Edwards had 25 kills and 31 digs against MSU Denver on Dec. 1, 2016 in the opening round of that year's NCAA Tournament in San Angelo, Texas.
 
Quarterfinal success, semifinal struggles
 
The Mavericks have now won their RMAC Tournament Quarterfinal match in each of the last six years.  However, the Mavs have not been able to advance past the semifinal round in the past five years and will look to snap that run on Friday against MSU Denver, which is the only other RMAC team to have such a strong and active semifinal qualification streak.
 
In fact, the Roadrunners have reached the championship in nine straight years since 2016, but have won just two titles in that stretch (2022, 2024). 
 
CMU beat the Roadrunners in the 2018 championship match.
 
High Five
 
The Mavericks had five players receive All-RMAC recognition on the 2025 all-conference teams that were released by conference officials on Thursday.  Sadie Scoville was a first team pick while Henley Madsen, Ashlyn Tafoya and Allison Waller all picked up second team accolades.  Aesha Alrashed rounded out the Maverick representation as an honorable mention pick.
 
All of the honors and the conference's major awards were determined by a vote of the head coaches.
 
Super Four
 
Sadie Scoville's all-conference honor was her fourth straight.  She was also a first team pick in 2024 while at CSU Pueblo after earning second team honors as both a freshman and sophomore with the Pack.  Scoville has recorded 1,088 kills in her four years as an RMAC player, including a CMU-leading 327 this year.
 
Digging her way to three
 
Maverick senior libero Allison Waller picked up her third All-RMAC honor on Thursday, claiming a second team honor.  Waller was a first team pick and the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2023 and then earned honorable mention plaudits last year.
 
Waller leads this year's Maverick squad with 321 digs and is a key part of the overall Maverick defense, which has held opponents to a .170 attack percentage this season.
 
She enters Friday's match with 1,267 career digs, the seventh highest total in CMU history during the rally-scoring era and the ninth highest total overall.
 
With 14 more digs, she would tie Stacey Vogel to move up one spot on the charts.
 
Waller, the reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, had 26 digs in Tuesday's tournament win and has had 18 or more in each of her last five matches, recording three of her four 20-plus efforts of the season in that stretch.
 
She has 104 digs in the Mavs' current 5-match winning streak, averaging 5.78 per set during that time.
 
Two youngsters honored
 
The Maverick had a pair of true freshman named to the All-RMAC team in Park City, Utah's Henley Madsen and Loveland, Colorado's Ashlyn Tafoya.  Madsen has been out of the lineup due to injury for the last three and four of the last five matches but still has 208 kills (2.74/set) and a .289 attack percentage to her credit from the opposite position.
 
Tafoya, the Mavs' top setter, ranks seventh overall in the RMAC for assists per set and also leads the team with 28 service aces.
 
One Hundred
 
Maverick Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection Aesha Alrashed leads the team with 104 blocks, surpassing the century mark on Tuesday when she recorded six to help the Mavs beat the Colorado School of Mines.  She is tied for second in the RMAC with her total block county and stands fourth in blocks per set (1.07).

Alrashed is the first Maverick since all-Americans Kasie Gilfert and Camille Smith both surpassed the 100 mark in 2018.
 
The Mavs also hit a strong .339 in Saturday's win at South Dakota Mines and end the regular season with a .253 mark, the second best mark in the RMAC.
 
Regional Rankings
 
The Mavericks moved up what could prove to be a pivotal spot in this week's NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings.  The Mavericks are now eighth and currently in position for what would be a fifth straight NCAA Tournament bid even if they are not able to win the RMAC Tournament, which comes with an automatic spot.
 
Eight teams from the region, made up of the RMAC and Lone Star Conference, will be chosen during Monday evening's selection show, which will air at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. 
 
The Mavericks had been ranked ninth in the previous week.
 
It is important to note that the Tuesday victory over Mines, which was ranked fourth once again this week, was not yet figured into the regional ranking process for this week as data was cut off on Sunday for this week's rankings.  However, it will be considered in the final selection process along with the results from both conference tournaments.
 
About the Roadrunners
 
The Roadrunners are currently 24-3 overall and won a share of the RMAC title as well as the No. 1 seed for this week's tournament thanks to their head-to-head victory over co-champion UCCS.
 
Coach Jenny Glenn's club has now won five straight RMAC regular season crowns had a league-leading four First Team All-RMAC selections and eight total honorees this season.  Setter and opposite hitter Karyna Werley lead the group and was named as the RMAC Freshman of the Year.

Senior outside hitter Annika Helf repeated as a first team honoree while Alyssa Boyte, who also picked up RMAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Kryssa Moerman both moved up a level after garnering second team honors a year ago.  Brooke Gennerman and Skyler Michael were picked to the second team this year while Mia Accomazzo and GabriElle Brewer both claimed honorable mention recognition.
 
The Roadrunners have the RMAC's top offense and are averaging 18.39 kills per set while hitting .289, 36 points higher than the Mavs, who are second in the league for that statistic.
 
They have three of the RMAC's top five most efficient hitters in Moerman (.366), Boyte (.348) and Werley (.346).  Boyte also paces the RMAC with 115 blocks (1.19/set) while Helf has matched CMU's Scoville with 327 kills (3.48/set).
 
Brewer ranks third in the RMAC for service aces with 37 (0.34/set).
 
Werley does a lot of everything and is second on the team with both 229 kills (2.36/set) and assists with 548 (5.65/set).  She also has 185 digs, 45 blocks and 26 service aces and has recorded the RMAC's only three triple-doubles this year.
 
Series & Postseason History
 
CMU will renew its most played rivalry of the decade when they play the Roadrunners for the third time this season and 13^th time since COVID.  The teams have split the first two match-ups of this year.
 
The Mavs came from a set down to win a 3-1 decision over the then nation's fifth-ranked Roadrunners on Sept. 26 at home in the conference counter before the Roadrunners avenged what ended up being their lone conference loss with a 3-0 win in Denver on Oct. 30 during RMAC Power Pod Play.
 
The Mavs also won over the then top-ranked Roadrunners on Nov. 2, 2024 in Denver.
 
The last post-season match-up between the teams came in the semifinals of the 2022 South Central Regional in Denver, a match the Roadrunners won in five sets.
 
The Mavs won the last RMAC Tournament match-up between the teams, winning the 2018 final in straight sets in Golden.  The Roadrunners are 4-3 against the Mavs in the RMAC Tournament.
 
The Roadrunners are 39-13 against the Mavs during the Division II era (1992-Present) and are 23-4 against them in Denver during that time.
 
MSU Denver has been ranked amongst the nation's top ten at the time of 12 of the last 13 meetings.
 
RMAC Network News
 
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 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.
 
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
 
If the Mavericks win on Friday night, they will improve to 18-9 and advance to the RMAC Tournament Championship match for the first time since 2018 where they would await the winner of the second semifinal between UCCS and CSU Pueblo.
 
Saturday's championship match will be played at 5 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.
 
If the Mavericks lose, they will fall to 17-10 and await next Monday's (Nov. 24) NCAA Division II Tournament selection show to see if they will qualify for the tournament for the fifth straight year.