SAN ANGELO, Texas— The Austin Albers coaching era of Colorado Mesa University volleyball history got off to a rousing success as the nation's 23rd-ranked Mavericks swept both Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Nazarene on Friday in Kathleen Brasfield Invitational play here on the campus of Angelo State University.  
 
The Mavericks were playing their first two official matches of the 2025 season and under Albers, CMU's first new head coach in twenty years.
 
The Mavericks dispatched Arkansas-Monticello by a 25-17, 25-12, 25-13 scoreline in the afternoon.  They then took down the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm by a 25-23, 25-14, 25-12 margin.
 
Arkansas-Monticello Recap
 
Freshman opposite Henley Madsen recorded a match-high 11 kills in her collegiate debut as the Mavericks hit .227 while holding the Cotton Blossoms to a negative .037 hitting mark.
 
Sadie Scoville, who was an honorable mention all-American for Albers at CSU Pueblo, added nine kills.
 
Defensively, senior libero Allison Waller chipped in 13 digs while Aesha Alrashed recorded six blocks.  Alrashed, who redshirted due to injury in 2024 after starting for the Mavs in 2023 also had six kills and hit .364 in her return to the lineup.
 
Setters Addie Swanson and Ashlyn Tafoya, who split time in Albers' 6-2 scheme, both had 15 assists.  Tafoya also added nine digs while Swanson had eight.
 
The Mavs also had six players combine for seven aces as Scoville registered two.  She also had eight digs and a pair of blocks as the Mavs registered 11 blocks.
 
The Mavs finished the match with 40 kills, more than doubling up the Cotton Blossoms' total of 19.
 
Southern Nazarene Recap
 
Graduate transfer Charleston Tidwell recorded a dozen kills and eight digs while hitting .455 in the win over the Crimson Storm, who had earlier knocked off UT Permian Basin in five sets.
 
The Mavs hit .350 as a team and registered 44 kills as Scoville once again chipped in nine.
 
Waller had 14 digs  to lead all players while Swanson finished with 20 assists, one more than Tafoya.
 
Madsen finished with seven kills while Alrashed also contributed significantly with six kills on .462 hitting.
 
The Mavericks trailed 21-15 in the first set but rallied to win ten of the final 12 points of the opening frame to take the early overall advantage.  The Mavs then drubbed the Crimson Storm in the second and third sets, hitting .484 in the second and .344 as a team in the third.
 
Up Next

The Mavericks will continue the tournament on Saturday facing a pair of Lone Star Conference and fellow NCAA Division II South Central Regional foes.
 
They will play UT Permian Basin (0-2) at 1 p.m. CST (Noon Mountain) before taking on the host and nation's second-ranked Rambelles (2-0) in the tournament finale at 7:30 p.m. CST (6:30 p.m. Mountain).