GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— For the first time in 20 years, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team will take to the court with a new head coach as the Mavericks officially open the 2025 season and a new era at this weekend's Kathleen Brasfield Invitational in San Angelo, Texas.
 
The nation's 23^rd-ranked Mavericks, guided by Austin Albers, will play four matches over two days in the classic-style tournament and will open the campaign on Friday afternoon against Arkansas-Monticello at 3:30 p.m. CST (2:30 p.m. Mountain).  The Mavs will wrap up the weekend against the host and nation's second-ranked Rambelles on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. CST (6:30 p.m. Mountain) in the last of the tournament's 12 matches inside the Junell Center/Stephens Arena.
 
In between, the Mavericks will take on Southern Nazarene in the Friday nightcap at the same time and South Central Regional rival UT Permian Basin at 1 p.m. CST (Noon Mountain) on Saturday.

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Adams State is also at the tournament but will not face-off against the Mavs until the start of RMAC play in two weeks.
 
Links to live statistics and subscription-based FloCollege live streams can be found on the tournament website.
 
New to CMU, but a familiar name
 
Austin 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.
 
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.
 
Helping on the Bench
 
There will be a mix of new and returning faces on the Maverick bench this year assisting Albers.  Bri Strong returns for her sixth season as the Mavs' assistant coach and has helped lead the Mavericks to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 20 wins seasons after the Mavs won the 2021 Spring season title while going 15-1 in her first year with the Mavs.
 
CMU students Keylee Reynolds and Mahlia Glass also return as the Technical Coordinator of Director of Volleyball Operations.
 
Meanwhile, Annemarie Chin is a new full-time assistant coach and rejoins Albers after also assisting him at CSU Pueblo during the 2024 season.  She is a native of Florida and had spent five seasons at NCAA Division III Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana before joining the CSU Pueblo staff.
 
Adam Scott is the team's student intern while veteran CMU athletic trainer Rebecca Gardenhire will work with volleyball this season.  Mark Ryan also returns as the program's strength & conditioning coach.
 
Roster Breakdown
 
The Mavericks have 11 new faces and eight returners on their 19-player roster.  The newcomer group includes six transfers from other NCAA Division II institutions and five freshman from three different states.
 
The list of returners includes 2023 RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Allison Waller, one of three Maverick seniors or graduate students.  Aesha Alrashed also returns in 2025 as a redshirt junior after redshirting in 2024.  She started 22 matches in the middle on CMU's 24-5 team in 2023 and will be joined there by sophomores Lauren Walters and Jaycee Windorski, who saw reserve time last year.
 
The Mavs also return a pair of now true or redshirt sophomore outside hitters in Karsen Breeding and Emma Luce, who combined for more than 100 kills last season. 
 
The Mavs also return another solid defensive and serving presence in junior libero Marli Clausi.

Setter Addie Swanson also returns to the roster after redshirting in 2024 and split time with freshman newcomer Ashlyn Tafoya during the Mavs' preseason scrimmages and exhibition matches.
 
Tafoya, a standout at Thompson Valley High School, helps highlight the 5-woman Maverick freshman class and is joined in that group Park City, Utah opposite Henley Madsen, Palisade High School graduate Addie Ritterbush, Fort Collins native and Loveland High School product Sienna Thatcher, an outside hitter, and Dubuque, Iowa native and libero Addison Wright.
 
Although new to CMU, Albers will have some familiar faces to coach as he brought four players with him from CSU Pueblo, most notably Honorable Mention AVCA All-American Sadie Scoville and 2024 RMAC Freshman of the Year Kaitlyn Hall, expected to play major roles in the Maverick attack at the outside hitter and opposite positions, respectively.  Middle blocker Macy Wood also followed Albers to CMU after hitting a stellar .367 for the ThunderWolves last year while Hallie Hewlitt led the Pack in assists as their top setter last year.  However, Hewlitt will redshirt this season due to injury.
 
The Mavs also have two other transfers in opposite Coco Barnett, who started ten matches while putting down 109 kills and 44 blocks for Seattle Pacific last year, and graduate transfer Charleston Tidwell, a late pick-up, who should see significant time on the outside.  Barnett came to CMU in the spring of 2025 and played on the Mavs' beach volleyball team last year while Tidwell will finish her collegiate career on both the Maverick indoor and beach teams after playing indoor volleyball at Point Loma last year and for four years, including a redshirt year, at Division I Central Arkansas before that.
 
In the RMAC Poll

The Mavericks were picked second and received a pair of first place votes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Preseason Coaches' Poll, released last month.  The Mavs went 23-6 overall and were 12-2 in RMAC play last year, taking second place in the conference standings behind MSU Denver, which also topped the preseason poll.
 
23 = 42
 
The Mavericks wrapped up the 2024 season ranked 23^rd in the final AVCA NCAA Division II Poll and were picked in that same spot in the 2025 preseason poll, released last week.  The Mavs have now been amongst the nation's top 25 in 42 straight polls, dating back more than three seasons since the Week No. 1 poll in 2022.
 
Preseason Honors
 
Three Mavericks in Kaitlyn Hall, Sadie Scoville and Allison Waller, were named to the Preseason All-RMAC team, announced in conjunction with the RMAC poll.  The 14-player team was selected of returning players based on coaches' voting results from last year's All-RMAC selection process.

Waller was an Honorable Mention All-RMAC pick at CMU last year and was a First Team selection in 2023, when she was tabbed as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Scoville was a First Team All-RMAC pick at CSU Pueblo last year while Hall was a second team selection.  She was also named as the RMAC Freshman of the Year.
 
1K Milestone
 
Allison Waller will enter the 2025 season within range of the 1,000 career dig milestone, something she could eclipse as soon as this weekend.    Waller recorded 946 digs in her first three seasons and is just 54 away from the milestone, which only nine other Mavericks in the rally scoring era (2001-Present) have reached.  Waller currently sits 13^th on the Mavs' career charts in that era.
 
Exploring the Rivalries
 
The Mavericks' matches against Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Nazarene on Friday will mark the first time that the teams have ever met.  The same can be said for UT Permian Basin, who like CMU, is part of the South Central region.
 
The Mavericks will be playing Angelo State for the second time in two years on Saturday and will be looking to avenge their only home loss of the 2024 season.  The Rambelles won a 4-set decision on Sept. 14, 2024 during the Maverick Fall Classic during Week No. 2 of last season and went on to host and win the South Central Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament before advancing to the national semifinals.
 
CMU also qualified for the regional and traveled to San Angelo, Texas, but saw their season come to an end in the first round by Dallas Baptist University.
 
Coaching Match-Ups
 
Although Albers is new to CMU, he does have previous experience against three of this weekend's opponents and has a combined 3-2 record against them.
 
His CSU Pueblo teams played Southern Nazarene in both 2019 and 2022, splitting those matches.  The Pack won a 3-set affair on Aug. 27, 2022 in a match that was played during the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational at Angelo State.  Albers is also 1-1 against Crimson Storm head coach Kevin Ingram.
 
The Pack also swept Arkansas-Monticello early in Albers' first season at CSU Pueblo (2019).
 
Albers is 1-1 against Angelo State and Rambelle Coach Chuck Waddington.  His CSU Pueblo squad won in San Angelo in 2022 en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance but dropped a 2023 neutral-court match-up in Durango, Colorado.  Both of those matches went four sets.
 
About the Opponents
 
Arkansas-Monticello (Friday - 3:30 p.m. Central/2:30 p.m. Mountain)
 
The Cotton Blossoms have been picked 12^th and last in the Great American Conference's Preseason Coaches Poll and are coming off a 4-22 season in 2024.  Arlicia Ortiz is starting her second year as the team's head coach and will welcome in eight new signees, including five transfers to her roster this year.
 
Setter Mia Smalls returns for her redshirt senior season and currently sits third in UAM history for career assists.
 
Southern Nazarene (Friday – 7:30 p.m. Central/6:30 p.m. Mountain)
 
The Crimson Storm, who hail from Bethany, Oklahoma went 9-20 overall and 5-9 in Great American Conference Play last year.  They have been picked eighth in this year's conference preseason poll.
Kate Wright was named as the GAC Freshman of the Year in 2024 and earned All-GAC Honorable Mention honors last year and is expected to help lead the Crimson Storm once again this year.  She recorded 322 kills and hit an efficient .268 from her outside hitter position.

Veteran Coach Kevin Ingram, entering his 25^th season at SNU, also welcomed in nine new additions.
 
UT Permian Basin (Saturday – 1 p.m. Central/Noon Mountain)

The Falcons were picked ninth in the Lone Star Conference's Preseason Coaches' Poll after surpassing expectations to finish in a tie for sixth place in last year's standings with a 9-7 conference record.  They went 16-9 overall and enjoyed their best season since 2019 and were regionally-ranked at the end of last season after being tabbed ninth in last year's LSC Poll as well.
They ended the season on a 4-match winning streak, their first since 2015, but just missed out of the LSC Tournament on tie-breaking procedures.
 
CJ Allard returns for his second season as the Falcons' head coach and returns sophomore outside hitter Ashlee Macias, sophomore middle hitter Lauren Demuth and senior setter Canyen Rodriguez, who are their three LSC Players to Watch.
 
#2 Angelo State (Saturday – 7:30 p.m. Central/6:30 p.m. Mountain)
 
The Rambelles were listed on top of the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, receiving 30 of 54 first place votes.  They were also put second in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll after going 32-3 overall and 15-1 in LSC play.
 
They won 20 straight matches in the latter stages of the season, winning the LSC and NCAA South Central Regional Tournaments before advancing to the semifinals of the national tournament.

Junior outside hitter Madi Parrish was named as the LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and earned AVCA Second Team All-America honors last year.  She recorded 498 kills, the fifth highest total in ASU history, last season.
 
Demi Carter also returns after earning her AVCA National Freshman of the Year honors last year and recorded 243 kills, 78 blocks and a .310 attack percentage from the right side.
 
Chuck Waddington is entering his 18^th season as the Rambelles' head coach and has a 410-140 (.745) career record, including an even better 200-34 (.855) mark at home in the Junell Center/Stephens Arena.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will continue non-conference and tournament play next week (Sept. 12-13) when they head to the Cal State LA Tournament in Los Angeles.  The Mavs will play Cal Poly, ranked 11^th in the AVCA's Preseason Poll next Friday, Sept. 12 to open that tournament and will also take on the hosts and Simon Fraser, both of whom are receiving votes in the national poll.