GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After going 2-2 on the opening weekend of the season, including a win over the No. 7 ranked team in the country, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team has returned home to play their next six matches, including this weekend's Volley in the Valley Tournament in Brownson Arena.
The Mavericks will play four times over the weekend, which will feature five teams and ten total matches— five on Friday and five on Saturday.
The tournament webpage has the complete schedule as well as links to live statistics and live streams on the RMAC Network for every match.
The Mavericks will play twice on both days taking on Sul Ross State at 11 a.m. and Fort Hays State and 6 p.m. on Friday before squaring off with Fairmont State on Saturday at 1 p.m. and closing out the tournament against Adams State on Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m.
Last Times Out
As mentioned in the open, the Mavericks went 2-2 on the opening weekend of the season, which they spent in the Lone Star State of Texas at the Dallas Classic.
On Thursday (Aug. 27), the Mavs opened the season in style with a 3-set sweep of seventh-ranked Nebraska-Kearney.
The Mavs then split matches on Friday (Aug. 28), falling to the host Dallas Baptist Patriots before bouncing back to sweep Mississippi Christian.
On Saturday (Aug. 29), the Mavs fell to Biola.
All four of the Mavs matches were finished in three sets.
Junior outside hitter
Ashlee Macias led the Mavericks offensive attack with 38 kills throughout the weekend, including 16 in the win over Nebraska-Kearney. She also had 17 digs and a double-double in that match.
Addie Ritterbush had a career-high 13 kills in that win and 31 on the weekend while hitting .397.
Freshman libero
Trinity Burchett led the Maverick defensively with 45 digs while
Jaycee Windorski had 11 blocks.
Opportunity Taken
Maverick middle blocker
Jaycee Windorski has made the most of her opportunities at the start of her junior season. The Leadville, Colorado native had recorded just six kills in 13 sets over her first two seasons before quadrupling that kill total on the opening weekend of this season.
Windorski started all four matches and recorded 18 kills while also adding a team-high 11 blocks. She set career-highs for kills (8), blocks (5) and hitting percentage (.615) in Friday's win over Mississippi Christian (.615).
Ashlyn & Ashlyn
Maverick setters
Ashlyn Tafoya and
Ashlyn Persha combined for more than 100 assists in the opening weekend.
Tafoya, a sophomore who earned Second Team All-RMAC honors as a freshman, tallied 56 assists (4.67/set) and also had three service aces.
Persha had 47 assists (4.70/set) and added five sets in her collegiate debut weekend.
Home Sweet Home
The Mavericks have consistently taken advantage of their home and supportive crowd in Brownson Arena, something they hope to continue this weekend and throughout the 2026 season.
The Mavs are slated to play 13 home matches this year, including the four this weekend.
They went 7-2 at home last season and have posted an impressive 72-9 home record and .889 winning percentage since the start of 2018, losing no more than one home match in each of the previous seven seasons.
The Mavs won their last ten home matches of 2024 and were 12-1 in 2024.
The Mavs were 13-1 at home in 2023 and went 8-1 in 2022.
The Mavs also went 9-1 at home in the fall of 2021. The Mavs also went 6-1 at home during the 2021 spring season while winning the RMAC title. In the fall of 2019, the Mavs went 8-1 after going 9-1 in Brownson Arena during the 2018 campaign.
The Mavs were also 9-1 at home in 2015 before posting 6-3 home-court records in both 2016 and 2017. CMU was also an impressive 15-1 in 2014 en route to an RMAC Tournament Championship and NCAA South Central Regional final appearance and have had winning records at home in each of the last 14 seasons since and including 2012, going 123-26 (.826) since the start of 2012.
They are 108-17 (.864) in their last 125 home matches since 2014.
In the Polls
The Mavericks were picked second and received a first place vote in the
RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Aug. 18. The Mavs picked up 169 points in the poll, trailing only UCCS' 187.
Defending RMAC and national champion MSU Denver and Mines finished in a tie for third in the poll with 165 points.
CSU Pueblo, which was one of the five RMAC teams in the NCAA Tournament last year, was picked fifth in the poll with 155 points.
Additionally, the Mavericks are continuing to be in the others receiving votes category
of this week's AVCA-Taraflex Division II Poll, as they were in the preseason poll.
Nebraska-Kearney, ranked seventh in the preseason, dropped a spot to eighth in the Week No. 1 poll. The Lopers went 3-1 last weekend with their lone loss coming to CMU.
Preseason All-RMAC
The Mavericks had three selections to the Preseason All-RMAC teams, which were announced in conjunction the RMAC poll. CMU's picks were
Aesha Alrashed, Henley Madesn and
Ashlyn Tafoya, who all picked up all-conference honors a year ago.
Alrashed, a fifth-year middle blocker, was an Honorable Mention All-RMAC honoree last season and recorded 108 blocks, the most of any Maverick since 2018. She was ranked fourth in the RMAC for total blocks and third with her 1.05 per set average. The Greeley, Colorado native also recorded 147 kills (1.47/set) and hit .257.
Madsen, a sophomore opposite hitter out of Park City, Utah, earned Second Team All-RMAC honors as a freshman and finished second on the 2025 edition of the Maverick squad with 208 kills and 235 total points despite missing the end of the season, including both of the Mavs' post-season matches due to injury.
Tafoya also earned Second Team All-RMAC plaudits as a freshman in 2025 and recorded 719 assists in her debut season, the most of any Maverick freshman in 15 years. She also had 240 digs (2.33/set) to rank third on the team and registered 11 double-doubles.
About the coaching staff
Austin Albers is in his second season in charge of the Mavericks. He is just the fifth coach in program history and the third in the last 42 years.
In his first season with CMU (2025), Albers led the Mavericks to a 17-11 campaign and a fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
He is no stranger to the RMAC after having spent the six previous seasons (2019-24) at CSU Pueblo, where he led the ThunderWolves to a 93-61 (.604) record and RMAC Tournament appearances in all six campaigns. The Pack also went to the NCAA Tournament in both 2021 and 2022.
Prior to that, he was the head coach at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he went 145-57 while leaving as the program's all-time win percentage leader (.718). He was inducted into the LCCC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025 and received the AVCA 30 under 30 award along with NJCAA Region IX and NJCAA District C Coach of the year honors.
Including this year's 2-2 start, Albers now has a 112-74 (.602) record at the 4-year level and surpassed the 100-win milestone in 2025. He also eclipsed the 250 overall collegiate win milestone last year and now has a 257-131 (.662) overall collegiate coaching record.
His two assistants
Bri Strong and
Annemarie Chin also return in 2026. Strong is entering her seventh season with the Mavs and her fourth as the program's top assistant.
Chin is in her second season with the Mavs and third with Albers after assisting him at CSU Pueblo. She was then named as the Pack's interim head coach after CMU hired Albers in February, 2025, before re-uniting with Albers for last fall's campaign.
Exploring the Rivalries
The Mavericks have never played Sul Ross State nor Fairmont State. They hold a 15-7 lead in the series against Fort Hays State in the Mavs' NCAA Division II era (1992-Present) but have not faced the Tigers since 2012.
CMU is 7-2 at home against the Tigers at home in that time.
The Tigers were members of the RMAC through 2005.
The Mavs and Adams State have an extensive rivalry as long-time conference rivals. CMU has won ten straight and 14 of the last 15 match-ups. The Mavs are 42-16 against the Grizzlies in the Division II era and are 21-7 against them at home. The Grizzlies' last win over the Mavs in Grand Junction was back in 2012.
About the Opponents
Sul Ross State (Friday – 11 a.m.)
The Lobos, who hail from the southwestern Texas city of Alpine, were also in Colorado last week, playing at the Virginia Harris/Jeanie Miller Invitational hosted by Western Colorado in Gunnison. They went 0-4, winning one set of their season-opener against Southwestern Oklahoma State before being swept by Lubbock Christian, Western Colorado and New Mexico Highlands.
Freshman opposite Antyianha Lang led the Lobos with 28 kills on .279 hitting over the weekend.
Mia Espinoza and Violeta Flores split time at the setter position and recorded a combined 93 assists. Espinoza also led the Lobos with 30 digs and had double-doubles against both Southwestern Oklahoma State and New Mexico Highlands.
The Lobos had just four service aces as a team throughout the weekend, their first under new head coach Hollie King, who had been the head coach at Wesleyan (Ga.) for the previous two seasons.
The Lobos went 3-21 last year and were 2-20 in their first in their first year in the Lone Star Conference and NCAA Division II in 2024.
Fort Hays State (Friday- 6 p.m.)
The Tigers are off to a 4-0 start after running the table at their Tiger Classic last weekend in Hays, Kansas. They posted 3-set sweeps of over Regis and Midwestern State in between 3-1 wins over Truman State and Eastern New Mexico.
They will play Regis again on Wednesday night in Denver before heading over the Mountains to play in the Mavs' tournament.
Through four matches, Mylie Brown has put down 42 kills while hitting .350 while Ella Goodwin has 41 kills on .320 hitting. Payton Bergschneider, who has 38 kills and 6-foot-4 Ashlyn Reeves, who has 36 from the middle. Reeves his also hitting .405 and has a team-high 12 blocks.
Setter Annie Eaton has registered 130 assists and a team-high eight service aces while Haylee Wolf has tallied 78 digs (5.57/set) while helping hold their opponents to a .154 combined attack percentage.
Fairmont State (Saturday – 1 p.m.)
The Falcons went 3-1 on the opening weekend of the season while hosting a tournament in Fairmont, West Virginia. They claimed wins over Bowie State, Lees-McRae and East Stroudsburg and dropped a 5-set decision to Anderson.
Three different Falcons in Kailyn Connelly, Josie Noble and Natalie Zemba all recorded more than 30 kills on the opening weekend. Connelly led the way with 35 kills and hit .306. Zemba, who hit an impressive .433, and Nobbe, had 31 each.
Elena Thompson also had 25 kills and ripped off 11 service aces (0.73). Belle DeVall had 92 assists and five aces while Zoe Ringer chipped in another 59 assists.
Grace DeVall has 71 digs while Elena Thompson has 62.
Last year's Falcon squad went 23-11 overall and 10-4 in the Mountain East Conference and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Adams State (Saturday – 5:30 p.m.)
The Grizzlies are off to a 1-4 start but have battled their way against some tough opposition, winning at least one set against each of the four teams that are receiving votes or ranked inside the AVCA Top 25 polls. They also swept Tuskegee to cap their 4-match weekend at the West Texas A&M Lady Buff Classic.
On Tuesday, the Grizzlies dropped a 3-1 decision to 14
th-ranked Angelo State in their home opener. They also took 25th-ranked West Texas A&M to five sets on Saturday.
Isa Folau has already recorded 72 kills (3.43/set) to lead the RMAC and rank tenth nationally through Tuesday night while Lizzie Macintosh has 58 (2.90/set).
Setter Isabella DeLa Rosa has registered a RMAC-leading 202 assists, the second highest total in the country, and also has a team-high seven service aces.
Ashlyn Jones has 82 digs, which also leads the RMAC.
Up Next
The Mavericks will open up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play next weekend at home, hosting Adams State again next Friday (Sept. 11) at 6 p.m. The Mavs will also play New Mexico Highlands next Saturday (Sept. 12) at 3 p.m.
