GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Paced by a combined 22 kills from outside hitters
Ashlee Macias and
Molly Whalen, who matched the entire visiting Western Colorado University Mountaineers' total, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team posted a dominant 25-16, 25-6, 25-17 win on Friday night here in Brownson Arena.
The Mavericks have now won 27 straight matches over the Mountaineers since 2012 and have posted ten consecutive home victories, including all eight this season. They have also won three straight and ten of their last 11 overall while moving to 12-3 on the season.
Additionally, the Mavs grabbed a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference lead with a 4-1 record.
The Mountaineers, who committed 17 hitting errors while putting down 22 kills, were held to a .053 hitting percentage and fell to 7-8 overall and to 2-3 in the RMAC.
The Mavericks, who rank inside the nation's top ten for attack percentage, hit .319 as a team, well above their .287 mark coming in.
Macias, who had 12 kills on .500 hitting, also finished with nine digs, trailing only libero
Maya Grant's 14 for team-leading honors.
Whalen put down 10 kills and hit .250.
Meanwhile,
Henley Madsen finished with six kills and hit .300 from the opposite hitter position.
Starting setter
Ashlyn Tafoya recorded 16 assists and six digs while
Hallie Hewlett chipped in 15 assists and five digs.
The Mavs also recorded ten service aces without allowing any to the Mountaineers, who were also guilty of nine service errors.
The Mavs hit .325 in the opening set and pulled away from what was an early 9-9 tie with a 6-2 run, triggered by one of Macias' four first-set kills.
The Mavs then extended the lead to 22-15 before one of
Jaycee Windorski's three service aces and a Mountaineer attacking error helped push the Mavericks to the first set win.
The Mavs then jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second set behind a 5-0 run with Macias the service line.
After the Mountaineers scored one point on a Macias error, the Mavs then exploded for another 11-0 run that featured all three Grant service aces to build a 19-3 lead before cruising to take the frame.
The Mavs hit .500 in that frame and also took advantage of ten Mountaineer hitting errors as the visitors hit a negative .280 in that set.
The Mavs then used multiple mini-runs in the third set to close out the victory. They hit .222 with 13 kills as Macias finished each of the three sets with four kills, while personally hitting .571 in the final frame.
Maggie Legg had six kills and ten digs to lead the Mountaineers in the match.
CMU will close out a 3-match homestand on Saturday afternoon taking on Fort Lewis College (9-6, 3-2 RMAC) in their Dig Pink Match to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
