GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University sophomore and Palisade native
Addie Ritterbush recorded a career-high 16 kills on a career-best .600 hitting while
Ashlee Macias recorded a 12-kill, 11-dig double-double as the Mavericks swept visiting Adams State University in both teams' Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball opener on Friday night in Brownson Arena.
Set scores were 25-21, 25-11, 25-17.
The Mavs hit .354 as a team in what was their fifth straight win while improving to 7-2 overall.
They had also recorded a 3-set sweep over ASU in a non-conference match during the Volley in the Valley Tournament.
The Grizzlies were held to a .087 attack percentage on Friday and fell to 4-7 after coming in as winners of three of their previous four matches.
The Mavs finished with a 47 kills, 21 more than the Grizzlies, and also had a 49-30 advantage in defensive digs.
Junior middle
Jaycee Windorski aided the effort with seven kills on .700 hitting and a team-high four blocks.
Freshman Libero
Maya Grant led the CMU back-row with 17 digs.
Setter
Ashlyn Tafoya recorded 23 assists and six digs while
Hallie Hewlett doled out 16 assists while adding five more digs.
The Mavericks hit .400 in the opening set but never led the set by more than four points.
They Mavs, who delighted the Beach Bash in Brownson crowd of 551, then used a big 7-1 run in the middle of the second half to build a 16-9 lead thanks in part to back-to-back Tafoya service aces.
The Mavs then closed out the set on a 9-1 run that featured two Macias kills with Windorski behind the service line.
The Grizzlies did not go away quietly and had a 7-4 lead early in the third set, before the Mavs battled back to tie the set at 11.
It was also tied at 12, 13 and 14 as the Mavs went on a 9-0 run with
Molly Whalen serving to build a commanding 22-14 advantage before closing out the match just six rallies later.
CMU hit .378 as in the third set.
The Mavs are now 5-0 at home this season and have now defeated the Grizzlies in 12 straight and 16 of their last 17 encounters.
ASU's last win over the Mavs in Grand Junction was in 2000.
The Mavs will look to continue their momentum on Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock when they host the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls, who dropped a 3-set match at Westminster to fall to 2-7 overall and to 0-1 in the RMAC.
