GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Starting the season 8-2 and coming off a perfect 4-0 weekend, the Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team will play their first home matches of the season this weekend, facing Central Wyoming College in a doubleheader on Saturday at the CMU Beach Courts.
The first dual is slated for 11 a.m. while the second will get underway at 1 p.m.
Follow the Mavs
A recap of Saturday's action will also be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com on Saturday evening.
For inside content, fans are also encouraged to follow the team on their Instragam account (
@cmu_beachvb).
Last Time Out
The Mavs were in Kingsville, Texas last weekend, playing at Texas A&M-Kingsville's Javelina Beach Showdown. The Mavericks went 4-0 throughout the 5-team round-robin, winning the official team title.
They started the tournament on Friday, beating the host Javelinas and first-year NAIA program Wayland Baptist by 4-1 scores.
The Mavs then faced a pair of NCAA Division I foes in UTEP and Tarleton State on Saturday. The Mavs defeated UTEP 4-1 and then got past Tarleton, 3-2, in the first ever match-up with the Texans.
The Mavs went 4-0 at both No. 1 and No. 2 throughout the weekend as
Gracyn Spresser and
Ellie Ask ran their top flight record to 6-4 while
Riley Daugherty and
Lizzy Hood are now 10-0.
Full recaps from both days of the trip can be seen below.
Best Ever Start
The Mavs 8-2 team record is their best 10-match start in program history. Last year's squad, which finished 18-12, went 7-3 in the first ten matches. The 2023 team that recorded a school-record 19 wins, started out 6-4.
Perfect at home
In their history, the Mavericks are a perfect 19-0 in home duals, a run they hope to continue this weekend.
Two of those wins over Central Wyoming last year.
The Mavs are 7-0 at home against Trinidad State, defeating the Trojans three times last season as part of a 5-0 home season.
The Mavs have also defeated Utah four times and went 4-0 at home in 2023 with a pair of wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville and two over Trinidad State. They have also defeated Colorado Northwestern Community College twice. Their other two home wins came over Salt Lake Community College (2022) and Colorado College's club team (2018).
Following this weekend, the Mavs are slated to play four more home matches on the weekend of Mar. 28-29, when they will face Emmanuel (Ga.) and Trinidad State on both days. The exact times and order of those tri-duals has not been determined.
Perfect at 2
The Mavs. No. 2 pair of
Riley Daugherty and
Lizzy Hood continued their hot start last week, going 4-0 at the Javelina Beach Showdown. They are now a perfect 10-0 to start the season.
Daugherty and Hood have won eight teams in straight sets and have pulled out a pair of 3-set matches so far this season.
Consistent Start
The Mavs and tenth-year Head Coach
David Skaff has used the same lineup in all ten of the Mavs' matches to date. All five pairs have posted at least five wins.
Here is a look at that lineup with each pair's record thus far.
- Ellie Ask/Gracyn Spresser (6-4)
- Riley Daugherty/Lizzy Hood (10-0)
- Barett Nolan/Ania Swartzendruber (8-2)
- Jessica Passi/Taylor Scherff (7-3)
- Izzy Burns/Lucy Kaufman (5-5)
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 84 wins, 61 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 Rustlers
The Rustlers, who hail from Riverton, Wyoming, opened their season on Feb. 20, playing three matches against Trinidad State College on neutral sand in Denver.
They went 2-1 throughout the day as each match was decided by a 3-2 margin.
Laina Whitney and Rian Mckenzie played together and went 2-1 as a duo.
Their 12-woman roster, includes 11 freshman and just one sophomore in Khloe Hobson.
Series Histories
The Mavs are 2-0 all-time against the Rustlers, first playing them last year in a Mar. 10 doubleheader.
The Mavs dominated the day, winning all ten matches and 20 sets, conceding more than 10 points in just two of them.
Up Next
The Mavs will remain at home next weekend to host an intrasquad scrimmage at Noon next Saturday (Mar. 15) before departing for their Spring Break trip, which will see them play four matches in a pair of tri-duals on Mar. 18 and 19 before they head to Tucson to play three more matches in the Arizona Invitational on Mar. 21-22.
