SALT LAKE CITY— Henley Madsen,
Macy Wood and
Jaycee Windorski were all perfect at the net while reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Molly Whalen recorded a match-high ten kills on .533 hitting as the Colorado Mesa University Maverick volleyball team posted a dominant 3-set road sweep over Westminster University on Tuesday here in the Griffins' Behnken Field House.
The Mavericks, who were ranked eighth nationally for team hitting percentage coming in, hit .383 as a team and put down 40 kills in the 25-16, 25-13, 25-18 win and needed just 72 minutes to claim their seventh straight win.
The Mavs, who have also won 14 of their last 15, improved to 16-3 overall and took over sole possession of the lead in the conference standings until at least Friday night.
The Griffins managed just 24 kills and committed 14 attacking errors, half of which were the result of CMU's seven blocks, and were held to a .122 attack percentage. They are now 3-16 overall and 2-7 in RMAC play and have dropped three straight and nine of their last ten.
Madsen converted for kills on all nine of her attacks from the opposite hitter position while Wood went 4-for-4 after coming off the bench in the middle.
Meanwhile, Windorski also hit 1.000, putting down kills on all three of her swings and added four blocks.
Ashlee Macias also had seven kills from the outside hitter position while
Addie Ritterbush chipped in six kills and three blocks while hitting .308
Setters
Hallie Hewlett and
Ashlyn Tafoya distributed the ball well and combined for 29 of CMU's 37 assists. Tafoya had 15 assists and added seven digs and a service ace while Hewlett recorded 14 assists.
Defensively, libero
Maya Grant led all players with nine digs and was perfect on 14 reception attempts. She also had four assists and two aces.
Defensive specialist
Addison Wright also recorded eight digs and had some long serving runs.
The first of those right after she checked in to the match as the Mavs went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-5 lead in the first set.
The Mavs then won 10 of 14 points moments later and took a 19-8 lead as they hit .407 in the first set to win it by nine points.
The Mavs were even more dominant in the second set and put down 16 kills without a single hitting error to hit .571 as a team. Madsen and Whalen also put down five kills a piece while the Mavs recorded four blocks in the middle stanza.
Grant served the Mavs to an early 5-0 lead and later helped the Mavs extend the lead to 18-9 with another 4-0 run in that set.
The Mavs then used two separate 4-0 spurts and another 3-point spurt in the opening half of the third set to build a 13-7 lead before gradually extending it to 11 points at 22-11.
The Griffins did go on a 5-0 run as the Mavs got a bit sloppy with three of their low hitting error total of nine in that spurt, which brought the Griffins back to within 22-16.
However, two Ritterbush kills in three rallies and a match-ending kill from Wood allowed CMU to complete the sweep with only a limited threat from the hosts.
The Mavs are now a half-match ahead of MSU Denver and UCCS, who were both idle on Tuesday, in the conference standings. Both of those teams, who have 7-1 RMAC marks, will play twice on the road this weekend at Colorado Christian and CSU Pueblo.
Meanwhile, CMU will return home for a Saturday evening clash against the Colorado School of Mines, which is in fourth place in the conference standings at 6-2. The Orediggers, currently 15-3 overall, will also play at Westminster on Friday before heading in to Brownson Arena, where the Mavs are 9-0 so far this season.
First serve for the Alumni Weekend match is slated for 5 p.m.
