GOLDEN, Colo.— Despite a season-high 12 kills from
Kaitlyn Hall and seven blocks from
Jaycee Windorski, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team fell to the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers for the second time in five days as the nation's 25
th-ranked Orediggers pulled out tight first and third sets en route to a 27-25, 25-18, 25-22 win over the Mavericks on Thursday night in Lockridge Arena.
The match was the start of a 3-day, 3-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Power Pod but does not count for the RMAC standings.
The Orediggers had a 44-34 edge in total kills and came up with 12 blocks as they improved to 18-3 overall with their 11
th consecutive sweep.
The Mavericks fell to 16-5 overall and were held to a .115 team attack percentage after falling in a RMAC counter at home in Grand Junction on Saturday..
In Thursday's re-match, Hall finished hitting .381 while fellow opposite hitter
Henley Madsen finished with nine kills on .316 hitting.
The Mavs also recorded nine blocks as Hall added four while Madsen was involved in three to support Windorski, who had one solo and six block assists.
Libero
Maya Grant had ten digs to pace the Mavs in that category while
Ashlyn Tafoya recorded 13 assists.
Mines' Caroline Walden finished with 13 kills to lead the Orediggers while Jenna McLaughlin added 12 kills and eight blocks. Setter Kaiya Gilbert also had 35 assists and six blocks.
The Orediggers had a small lead for much of the first set before the Mavs were able to erase a 24-21 deficit to keep the set alive. They also fought off two more set points at 25-24 and 26-25 on kills by Madsen and Hall but ultimately succumbed as Walden and Naomi Romslo ended the set with kills of their own.
The Orediggers then used an early run in the second set to take a 4-1 lead while leading the stanza by seven points on multiple occasions, which ended up being the margin of victory. Mines had six blocks in the set.
The Mavericks did not give up and remained close to the Orediggers through much of the final set although the Orediggers went on a 3-0 run to double what was a 12-9 to a 15-9 advantage.
The Mavs then pulled within two at 21-19 and 22-20 but could not gett over the hump as the Orediggers were able to finish off the match on a Romslo kill moments later.
CMU will look to bounce back on Friday at 6 p.m. when the Mavericks take on Westminster University for the third time this season in the second match of the Power Pod.
