GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After making quick work of winless Sul Ross State University in the morning, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick volleyball team became the first team to tame the Fort Hays State University Tigers this season as the Mavs went 2-0 on the opening day of the
Volley in the Valley Tournament on Friday here in Brownson Arena.
The Mavericks won the opening two sets of the nightcap thriller by convincing 25-19 and 25-16 margins against the previously unbeaten Tigers, who had squeaked out 25-23 wins in the third and fourth frames.
The Tigers then built a 12-9 lead in the decisive fifth set and had match points at 14-13 and 15-14.
However, the Mavs fought off both and went on a 3-0 run at the end of the match to claim the 17-15 set and the 2 ½-hour match while improving to 4-2 overall.
FHSU, which swept Fairmont State in the third of five matches of the day, fell to 6-1 overall.
Earlier, the Mavs dominated winless Sul Ross State, 25-5, 25-19, 25-14.
Adams State (2-5) also swept Sul Ross State (0-6) but lost in four sets to Fairmont State (4-2) in the first match of the day.
Sul Ross State Recap
The Mavs needed just 69 minutes to beat the Lobos as five different Mavericks put down between five and eight kills.
CMU hit .469 as a team, the program's fourth highest total in the rally-scoring era (2001-Present).
Meanwhile, the Lobos were held to a .117 clip.
Karsen Breeding led the Maverick attack with eight kills while hitting .318 from the outside.
Jaycee Windorski added seven on .455 while
Molly Whalen put down six kills while hitting .600.
Bailee Tucker and
Coco Barnett put down five kills apiece.
Setter
Ashlyn Tafoya finished with 17 assists and three of the Mavs' nine aces while fellow setter
Hallie Hewlett had 14 assists and a pair of aces.
Freshman Libero
Maya Grant had eight digs to lead the back row.
The Lobos' Antyiahna Lang finished with seven kills and hit .500.
The Mavs scored the first ten points of the match and were up 18-2 in the opening set, which they won by 20 points.
The Mavs hit .565 in that opening set and were sizzling at an even higher .615 clip in the third after managing a solid .281 in the second.
Fort Hays State Match Recap
Henley Madsen finished the 5-set victory with 15 kills and six blocks while hitting .500.
Aesha Alrashed also had 11 kills, the second highest total of her 5-year Maverick career, and six blocks on .588 hitting.
Tafoya and
Ashlee Macias both finished with double-doubles. Tafoya had 29 assists and 11 digs while Macias finished with 11 kills and ten digs.
Hallie Hewlett also registered a season-high 27 assists while Grant had 22 digs, the most of any Maverick this season.
CMU also recorded a season-high 11 blocks as Windorski finished with eight kills and five block assists.
The Mavs hit .185 as a team, nearly doubling the Tigers' .098 total, as they put down 60 total kills to help them overcome 30 hitting errors.
The opening salvos of the match were fairly even as the Tigers were able to gain a 15-12 edge in the first set.
However, the Mavericks battled back and finished the opening set on a 10-1 run, helped by aces from both Hewlett and
Addison Wright.
The second set win was more straight forward as the Mavs jumped out to a 12-4 lead before cruising to the 25-16 victory.
The third set was tight in the opening stages before a 4-0 Tiger run helped the visitors build a 12-8 lead, which proved to be the pivotal run although the Mavs were able to fight back from 20-13 down to pull within 24-23 before a kill by FHSU's Peyton Bergschneider put the set away.
The Mavs then took their turn in building 20-15 and 22-17 lead in the fourth set, only to watch the Tigers go on a 8-1 run at the end of the frame to level the match and force the fifth set. The Mavericks were guilty of five hitting errors in that stretch.
The fifth set was tied five times in the first half, including at 7-7 before the Tigers went on a 5-2 run to build a 12-9 lead.
However, a Madsen kill and Grant service ace helped the Mavs tie the fifth-set decider at 12 with a 3-0 run.
FHSU's Mylie Brown and Madsen then exchanged kills before Ella Goodwin gave the Tigers their first match point at 14-13.
Macias answered with a kill that grazed the fingers of the Tiger block on a play that withstood a replay challenge.
However, Goodwin answered right back with a kill to give the Tigers a 15-14 lead.
Windorski and CMU opposite
Addie Ritterbush then put down kills to reverse the deficit into a 16-15 lead before Alrashed and Ritterbush blocked Bergschneider's off-the-net attack to close out the thriller.
Up Next
The tournament will feature five more matches on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. when Fairmont State will take on Sul Ross State.
The Mavs will then play Fairmont State at 1 p.m. before closing out the tournament against Adams State at 5:30 p.m.
