GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After going 4-2 on their opening trip of the season, the Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team will head to the gulf coast of Texas to play four Lone Star State foes in this weekend's Javelina Beach Showdown, hosted by long-time NCAA Division II rival Texas A&M-Kingsville.
The Mavs will open the weekend tournament against the host Javelinas on Friday at 8 a.m. CST (7 a.m. Mountain) at the Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts in the south Texas city of Kingsville before taking on first-year NAIA program Wayland Baptist at Noon CST (11 a.m. Mountain).
CMU will then take on a pair of NCAA Division I opponents on Saturday facing UTEP at 8 a.m. CST (7 a.m. Mountain) and Tarleton State two hours later to wrap up their stay in Texas.
Follow the Mavs
Texas A&M-Kingsville has not posted any live stream or live result links for this weekend.
However, daily match recaps will also be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com.
For inside content, fans are also encouraged to follow the team on their Instragam account (
@cmu_beachvb).
Reviewing Last Week
The Mavs started their 2025 season with four straight wins last week, before dropping a pair of heart-breaking 3-2 decisions to Saint Mary's (Calif.) to finish their opening round trip with a 4-2 mark.
They started the season last Thursday (Feb. 20), sweeping a doubleheader from Benedictine Mesa. The Mavs won both matches, 4-1.
They then had Friday off before playing three matches on Saturday (Feb. 22) at the Grand Canyon University Tournament. They defeated NAIA No. 1 ranked Ottawa (Ariz.) by a 4-1 score before sweeping all five match-ups against NAIA No. 4 Arizona Christian.
The NCAA Division I Saint Mary's Gaels then came from 2-1 down to defeat the Mavs by a 3-2 score on Saturday afternoon. The Gales also came from 2-0 down to win Sunday morning's re-match by the same score.
Full recaps from all three days of last week's trip can be seen below.
A perfect 6-0
The Mavs' No. 2 pair of
Riley Daugherty and
Lizzy Hood went a perfect 6-0 last week. The duo won each of their first three matches in straight sets before getting past Arizona Christian's Riley and Haley Brown, by a tight 20-22, 21-19, 19-17 margin that saw all three sets decided by just two points.
Daugherty and Hood then picked up 3-set wins over Saint Mary's pairs in both of those duals.
Strong in the Middle
The Mavs proved to be quite strong in the middle of their lineup throughout the weekend as the No. 3 and 4 pairs both went 5-1 to supplement Daugherty and Hood's efforts at No. 2.
Barett Nolan and
Ania Swartzendruber played together throughout the week at No. 3 and went 5-1, winning their first five matches together. Those wins were the first dual wins of Swartzendruber's collegiate career.
Meanwhile,
Jessica Passi and
Taylor Scherff, also went 5-1 together at No. 4. They won their first four matches together, including 3-setters over Ottawa and Arizona Christian pairs. Those wins were also Passi's first dual meet wins. Passi and Scherff then split decisions against Saint Mary's duo Renee Nachtigall and Genevieve Bane, handling defeating the Gael duo, 21-14, 21-10 in Sunday's re-match.
Consistent Start
The Mavs and tenth-year Head Coach
David Skaff used the same lineup in all six of their matches last weekend.
Here is a look at that lineup with each pair's record thus far.
- Ellie Ask/Gracyn Spresser (2-4)
- Riley Daugherty/Lizzy Hood (6-0)
- Barett Nolan/Ania Swartzendruber (5-1)
- Jessica Passi/Taylor Scherff (5-1)
- Izzy Burns/Lucy Kaufman (3-3)
Coaching Staff
David Skaff, the only head coach in the Mavs' beach volleyball history, is in his tenth season in charge of the Maverick program. He is in his 18
th year overall as a CMU Coach, having served as a long-time assistant coach for the Mavs' indoor program before going full time to the beach program, starting in 2023.
Skaff has led the Mavericks to three straight top-3 finishes at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships, including a 2022 title.
His teams have combined for 80 wins in the previous nine seasons, 57 of which have come in the last three years and the start of this year alone.
The program has also received the AVCA Team Academic Award seven times, including each of the last six.
Ara "Bob" Norwood also returns for her third season as the Mavs' assistant coach after a standout indoor and beach playing career with the Mavs.
About the Opponents
Texas A&M-Kingsville
The Javelinas were also home last weekend, hosting the Javelina Beach Classic to open their season. They went 4-0 as a team, recording a 3-2 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor, 5-0 wins over Wayland Baptist and Texas Wesleyan before wrapping up the weekend with a 4-1 triumph over Tarleton State.
Last year's Javelina squad finished 18-11 and won the Silver Bracket at the AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships.
Wayland Baptist
The Pioneers started their program this season and went 1-2 on their opening weekend at the Arizona Christian Invitational on Feb. 7. They defeated Benedictine Mesa, 3-2, a team the Mavs also beat twice last week. Their losses came to 2024 NAIA Invitational Champion Vanguard and then to then No. 2 ranked Arizona Christian, a team the Mavs were also able to defeat last week.
The Pioneers were also at the Javelina Beach Classic last weekend, going 0-4 with losses to Mary-Hardin Baylor, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas Wesleyan and Tarleton State.
UTEP
The Miners opened their season last weekend at the Third Coast College Classic, hosted by Houston Christian. They went 3-2, getting wins over Central Arkansas, McNeese and Sam Houston spread around losses to the hosts and Texas. The 5-0 win over Sam Houston to close out the tournament was a Conference USA match.
They went 14-11 in the various matches, recording winning marks on all three of the odd numbed courts.
The No. 1 pair of Paulina Acuna and Krista Paegle went 3-2 while Emma Schubert and Marian Ovalle did the same on at No. 3. The Miners were also a strong 4-1 at No. 5 with Kennedy Llewellyn and Mila Popovic going 2-0 in that flight and 3-1 overall. They also played twice at No. 4 as the Miners altered their lineup slightly throughout the weekend.
Mackenzie Davis and Adriana Oporto were also 2-1 in three starts at No. 5.
The Miners are beginning their third season with a beach volleyball program and went 12-13 overall after finishing the Conference USA Championship with an 0-2 record.
They were 4-19 in their initial season in 2023.
Tarleton State
The Texans got off to a 3-1 team start in 2025, their second season with a beach program. They were also in Kingsville last weekend, defeating Texas Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist by 4-1 and 5-0 scores, respectively, on Friday. They then split matches on Saturday, getting past Mary Hardin-Baylor before falling to Texas A&M-Kingsville. Both of those matches were decided by 4-1 scores.
They went a combined 14-6 in the individual match-ups, posting solid 3-1 records in the top two flights and a perfect 5-0 mark on Court 5. They were 2-2 on both Courts 3 and 4.
Allison Bryant and Emma Halcomb played the entire weekend at No. 1 while Bella Parayno and Grayson Schirpik were at No. 2. Charlize Change and Olivia Fuentes were undefeated at No. 5.
This year's squad has already surpassed the 2024 team for wins. The Texans were 2-13 in their debut season, but did get a win over Jacksonville State in the opening round of the 2024 Conference USA Championship.
Series Histories
The Mavs are a combined 9-4 against this weekend's opponents throughout their history.
They are 7-3 against Texas A&M-Kingsville, a team they will have played more than any other foe with Friday's match. The Mavs have won the last seven match-ups and have played against each other at least once in every year since 2019, barring the 2020 COVID-shortened season.
In 2024, the Mavs met up the Javelinas in three different tournaments, including the AVCA Small College Beach Championships. The Mavs won all three of those match-ups, taking a 3-0 win at the national tournament.
The Mavs also defeated TAMUK at the 2022 and 2023 national tournaments.
The Javelinas also came to Grand Junction in 2023, dropping two duals against the Mavs.
However, the Javelinas won an early-season 2022 match-up in Kingsville, 3-2, their last win in the rivalry.
The Mavs also hold a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with UTEP in what has turned into a budding young rivalry. All three of those matches over the last two years have been played in Tucson in matches at University of Arizona tournaments.
The Mavs won 5-0 and 4-1 decisions in two separate 2023 tournaments before the Miners were able to claim a 3-2 win on Feb. 23, 2024.
CMU will face Wayland Baptist and Tarleton State for the first time this weekend.
Up Next
After spending back-to-back weekends on the road, the Mavericks will be at home for the next two weekends. They will host Central Wyoming College in an a11 a.m./1 p.m. doubleheader next Saturday (Mar. 8) before holding an intra-squad scrimmage the following Saturday (Mar. 15).
