GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team will play its only home matches of the season this weekend when the squad will host the Maverick Invitational at the CMU Beach Courts.
 
Tri-duals featuring the Mavs and junior college opponents Central Wyoming College and Trinidad State College will be held on both Friday and Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.
 
The Mavericks will play each opponent twice throughout the weekend and will play in the 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. windows on both days, taking on Central Wyoming at 11 a.m. on both days and Trinidad State at 3 p.m. on both days.  Central Wyoming and Trinidad State will play each other at 1 p.m. window each day.
 
It is important to note that the complete schedule (listed below) for each day will be on a rolling basis and matches could start as much as 15 minutes prior to the listed time.
 
Friday, Mar. 6
11 a.m. Colorado Mesa vs. Central Wyoming
1 p.m.*- Central Wyoming vs. Trinidad State
3 p.m.*- Colorado Mesa vs. Trinidad State
 
Saturday, Mar. 7
11 a.m. Colorado Mesa vs. Central Wyoming
1 p.m.*- Central Wyoming vs. Trinidad State
2:45 p.m. (Approximate)- Colorado Mesa Senior Day Recognition
3 p.m.*- Colorado Mesa vs. Trinidad State
 
*-Rolling Schedule (Max. 15 minutes ahead)
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks opened their season at Grand Canyon University's Canyon Classic on the weekend of Feb. 20-21.
 
The Mavs took on four NCAA Division I institutions, including two in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Preseason Collegiate Baach Poll and another receiving votes.
 
The Mavs fell 4-1 to the 13^th-ranked hosts and Arizona, receiving votes, on the opening day.
 
They then fell 5-0 to No. 11 Arizona State before battling in a 3-2 loss to UC Davis on Sunday, Feb. 21.
 
Senior Day
 
Prior to Saturday's 3 p.m. match at approximately 2:45 p.m. against Trinidad State, the Mavericks will hold a Senior Day recognition, honoring four student-athletes.
 
The list includes Ewelina Gacek, Jessica Passi, Gracyn Spresser and Stormi Tadlock, all of whom joined the Maverick program at various times after stating their collegiate careers elsewhere.
 
Spresser, a native of Johnson, Arkansas, is in her fourth year with the Mavs after redshirting at Missouri State in 2022.  She has compiled 54 career wins to rank fourth in program history.  She and Ellie Ask played in the No. 1 position last year and compiled a 16-14 record in the top flight.  She also won 22 matches as a redshirt freshman in 2023 with then partner Jada Hall, a mark that ranks her tied for seventh in CMU's single-season history.
 
Passi, a redshirt junior from Chicago, Illinoi has been with the Mavs for two seasons after redshirting at Saint Leo in 2023.  She went 19-11 on Court 4 along Taylor Scherff after playing with Tadlock on three occasions in her first year with the Mavs (2024).
 
Tadlock, who hails from Ozark, Missouri, also joined the Mavs in the spring of 2024 after playing three seasons of indoor volleyball at Drury.  She went 8-5 last year, including a 3-3 record on Court 5 last year and won a pool at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships Pairs Challenge with partner Lauren Rohlwing last season.

Gacek, a graduate student, came to CMU in the fall of 2025, after playing four years of indoor volleyball as an outside hitter at Division I George Mason, where she recorded 665 kills and 552 digs in 106 matches with the Patriots.  She is a native of Justice, Illinois.
 
Four winners
 
Four different Maverick pairs won matches throughout the opening weekend.  The Mavs used the same 12 players and six partnerships throughout the weekend but did flop the No. 1 and 2 pairs on both days.
 
Emerson Deferme and Ania Swartzendruber were winners in the top flight against UC Davis while Ellie Ask and Gracyn Spresser won on Court 2 in that dual.
 
Addie Ritterbush and Lauren Rohlwing won at No. 4 in the opener against Grand Canyon while newcomer Mikala Henderson and Stormi Tadlock claimed a Court 5 win over Arizona.
 
Home Perfection
 
The Mavericks are a perfect 25-0 on home sand throughout their program's history. 
 
Nine of the Mavs' home wins have come over Trinidad State while four others have come over Central Wyoming, who has come to Grand Junction in each of the past two years on the same corresponding weekend.
 
Trinidad State has come in each of the past four years, on various March weekends.
 
Century Coach?
 
David Skaff, the only head coach in the Mavs' beach volleyball history, returns for his 11^th season in charge of the Maverick program.  He is in his 19^th year overall as a CMU Coach, having served as a long-time assistant coach for the Mavs' indoor program before going full time to the beach program, starting in 2023.
 
Skaff has led the Mavericks to three straight top-3 finishes at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships, including a 2022 title. 
 
His teams have combined for 97 wins in the previous ten seasons, 74 of which have come in the last four years alone.
 
With three wins, he would reach the 100 win mark.
 
The program has also received the AVCA Team Academic Award eight times, including each of the last seven.
 
Ara "Bob" Norwood also returns for her fourth season as the Mavs' assistant coach after a standout indoor and beach playing career with the Mavs.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will head off for their Spring Break trip to the Southeastern United States, playing a bulk of their entire season schedule.  They will play nine matches in a span of five days, beginning Mar. 17 with a doubleheader at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.
 
They will then head to Franklin Springs, Georgia for seven matches in four days at Emmanuel University.  Two of those will be against the Lions, who came to Grand Junction and CMU last year. 
 
The other five will be neutral-sand matches.