GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will enter the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year and the 13^th time since 2004 when the eighth-seeded Mavericks take on top-seeded and host MSU Denver in Thursday's South Central Regional Quarterfinal inside the Roadrunners' Auraria Event Center.
 
The match, the third of four quarterfinals throughout the day, is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.
 
The Mavericks are 17-10 on the season and have won five of their last six matches. 
 
The Roadrunners are on a 17-match winning streak into Thursday.  They are 26-3 overall and ranked tenth in the latest AVCA NCAA Division II/TARAFLEX Coaches' Poll.
 
The full tournament schedule and other information, including ticketing options and parking codes can be seen on the tournament microsite.  That page also includes links to watch the matches for free on the RMAC Network and follow with live stats.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks also played at MSU Denver in their last match on Nov. 21 in the semifinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
The Roadrunners swept the match, 25-14, 25-17, 25-16 and went on to win the RMAC Tournament title with another 3-set sweep of No. 2 seed UCCS in the championship match on the following evening.
 
The Mavericks were held to a season-low 28 kills and 36 digs.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Karsen Breeding led the Mavs' offense with nine kills while libero Allison Waller tallied 20 digs to pace the defense.

For a complete recap of the match, please click here.
 
All-Tourney Team
 
After recording a career-high 17 kills in the Mavs' quarterfinal win over the Colorado School of Mines and then leading the Mavs with nine kills in the semifinal, Karsen Breeding was named to the RMAC All-Tournament Team and was the Mavs' lone representative.
 
Smart Ones
 
Breeding also picked up another accolade on Wednesday as she was named to the First Team Academic All-RMAC squad while leading a group of seven Mavericks named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.  The first team squad was selected by a vote of the conference's athletic communications directors based on a combination of athletic and academic accomplishments.
 
To be nominated, a player must hold a 3.50 or higher cumulative GPA, have completed two consecutive semesters at their current institution and used a season of eligibility.  Honor Roll status requires a 3.30 or higher GPA and compliance with the other requirements.
 
Breeding, a native of Bozeman, Montana, holds a perfect 4.0 GPA and is majoring in exercise science.  She has 108 kills (2.45/set) to her credit this season.
 
High Five
 
The Mavericks had five players receive All-RMAC recognition on the 2025 all-conference teams that were released by conference officials on Nov. 20.  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.

Scoville has now been recognized in four straight seasons, earning three previous honors while at CSU Pueblo.  She was a second team pick as a freshman in 2022 and as a sophomore in 2023 and moved up to the first team last year.
 
Waller is now a 3-time All-RMAC honoree.  She was a first team selection and the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and picked up honorable mention accolades last year.
 
All of the honors and the conference's major awards were determined by a vote of the head coaches.
 
NCAA History
 
The Mavs will be making their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their 13^th overall having first qualified in 2004.  The Mavs are 8-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and are 6-6 in the opening round.
 
Their last NCAA Tournament win came in 2022 over Dallas Baptist University, which came in MSU Denver's Auraria Event Center.  The Mavs then fell to the top-seeded an then No. 1 ranked Roadrunners in the regional semifinals.
 
The Mavs have reached the regional final twice (2006, 2014) and the second round in those two years and on four other occasions (2025, 2015, 2018 and 2022).
 
The Mavs have played the Roadrunners three times in the NCAA Tournament and have a 1-2 record against them.  All three previous NCAA Tournament matches have been decided in five sets.  The last was in 2022 in Denver.  The other two (2006, 2016) match-ups were in Texas.
 
Experienced Mavs
 
Eight current Mavericks were members of last year's regional qualifying squad.  Three of them (Karsen Breeding, Marli Clausi, Emma Luce) played in last year's first round match against Dallas Baptist.
 
Clausi, Aesha Alrashed and Allison Waller played in the 2023 NCAA Tournament match against the Patriots.  Alrashed and Waller were freshmen on the Mavs' 2022 squad.  Waller appeared in both of the Mavs' matches that year while Alrashed featured against MSU Denver in the second round.
 
Maverick senior outside hitter Sadie Scoville also has NCAA Tournament experience after having played against MSU Denver in the first round of the 2022 tournament against the Roadrunners while playing as a freshman for CSU Pueblo.  She led the ThunderWolves with 11 kills in that match.
 
Experienced Coach
 
Although he is in his first year with the Mavericks, Head Coach Austin Albers will also be coaching in his third NCAA Tournament this year.  All three of his tournament experiences will have come as the eighth seed and against and at top-seeded MSU Denver.  He was in charge of the 2021 and 2022 CSU Pueblo squads that played the Roadrunners in Denver.
 
Fourth Meeting
 
Thursday's match-up with MSU Denver will be the fourth of the season between the RMAC rivals.  The Mavericks won the first on Sept. 26 during conference play in Grand Junction and handed the Roadrunners what was their only RMAC loss.
 
The Roadrunners have since won the last two matches in straight sets, winning a Oct. 30 RMAC Power Pod match before taking the RMAC Tournament semifinal on Nov. 21.
 
The last time the Mavs played one opponent four times in the same season was in 2018, when the Mavs took on Utah Tech, known as Dixie State at the time.  The Trailblazers won both regular season matches before the Mavs won RMAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament matches.
 
Digging Streak
 
Maverick senior libero Allison Waller has played some of her best volleyball of the season and her career down the stretch recording 20 or more digs in each of her last three and four of the Mavs' last six matches, a portion of the season that saw CMU go 5-1 to help earn a NCAA Tournament spot.

She had never previously recorded three straight 20+ dig efforts in her 3-time All-RMAC career as a Maverick.
 
Waller now has five 20+ dig efforts this season, including her career-best 28 against the Colorado School of Mines on Oct. 14.  She now has 12 such 20+ efforts as a Maverick, recording three in 2023 as a sophomore and four last year as a junior.
 
Waller now has 1,287 career digs, sixth most in CMU history during the rally-scoring era (2001-Present).  She went past Stacey Vogel (1,281) during the RMAC Tournament semifinal against MSU Denver and will need 44 digs in the NCAA Tournament to match Drew Choules (1,331) for fifth on the list.
 
Century Blocker
 
Aesha Alrashed recorded eight blocks in the RMAC Tournament and how has 106 on the season as the first Maverick since 2018 to surpass the 100 mark in a single season.
 
She ranks second behind only MSU Denver's Alyssa Boyte, the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, in total blocks and fourth in the RMAC with her 1.06 per set average.
 
Alrashed is the first Maverick since all-Americans Kasie Gilfert and Camille Smith both surpassed the century mark in 2018.  Gilfert set rally-scoring era school-record with 123 that year while Smith had 111, the third best Maverick total in that era.
 
With four more blocks in the NCAA Tournament, Alrashed would match Jeanette Crosbie's totals of 110 in both 2001 and 2002, which rank fourth in the rally-scoring era.
 
About the Roadrunners
 
The Roadrunners are currently 26-3 overall and won a share of the RMAC regular season title before claiming the tournament title.
 
Coach Jenny Glenn's club has now won five straight RMAC regular season crowns as well as back-to-back tournament titles.
 
The Roadrunners are making their 25^th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and are hosting a regional for the third time in the last five years.
 
The Roadrunners 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.
 
Boyte was then named as the RMAC Tournament's MVP and was joined by Helf, Gennerman and Werley on the All-Tournament Team.
 
The Roadrunners have the RMAC's top offense and are averaging 14.46 kills per set while hitting .288, 39 points higher than the Mavs, who are second in the league for that statistic.  The Roadrunners rank fourth in the nation for hitting percentage and ninth for kills per set.
 
They have three of the RMAC's top six most efficient hitters in Moerman (.370), Boyte (.353) and Werley (.343).  Moerman leads the conference while Boyte also paces the RMAC with 126 blocks (1.22/set) while Helf is fourth in the conference for kills with 351 (3.51/set).
 
Brewer ranks second in the RMAC for service aces with 41 (0.40/set).
 
Werley does a lot of everything and is second on the team with both 244 kills (2.37/set) and assists with 585 (5.68/set).  She also has 196 digs, 47 blocks and 26 service aces and has recorded three triple-doubles this year.
 
Series History
 
CMU will renew its most played rivalry of the decade when they play the Roadrunners for the fourth time this season and 14^th time since COVID.
 
The Roadrunners are 40-13 against the Mavs during the Division II era (1992-Present) and are 24-4 against them in Denver during that time.
 
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 Thursday night, they will improve to 18-10 and advance to the regional semifinal for the seventh time in program history and their first since 2022.
 
They would then play the winner of the final quarterfinal between No. 4 seed West Texas A&M and No. 5 seed CSU Pueblo at 7 p.m. on Friday for a spot in the regional championship match on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
If the Mavericks lose on Thursday, they will end their season with a 17-11 record.