GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks used a pair of balanced efforts and a potent attack while sweeping visiting Fairmont State University and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Adams State University en route to winning the Volley in the Valley Tournament title on Saturday here in Brownson Arena.
The Mavericks hit .413 as a team in the 25-10, 25-10, 25-14 dispatching of the West Virginia based Fighting Falcons in the afternoon match and then hit .324 in a 25-12, 25-18, 25-16 evening win over the Grizzlies, who will return to Brownson Arena for the start of conference play on Friday.
With the victories, the Mavericks completed a perfect 4-0 tournament weekend while improving to 6-2 overall with their third and fourth straight wins.
Both of the Mavs' Saturday opponents went 2-2 throughout the tournament, joining Fort Hays State, which is now 7-2 overall.
Sul Ross State rounded out the tournament field and dropped all four matches and dropped to 0-8 on the season.
Fairmont State, which claimed a 4-set win in the first match of the day, is now 5-3. Adams State, which pulled out a 5-set win over Fort Hays State in the following match, is now 3-6 overall.
Fort Hays State swept Sul Ross State in between the Maverick victories.
All-Tournament Team
The Mavericks had four of the ten all-tournament selections in libero
Maya Grant, setter
Hallie Hewlett, opposite hitter
Henley Madsen and middle blocker
Jaycee Windorski.
Grant, a freshman, finished the tournament with 55 digs, 12 assists and seven service aces. Hewlett finished with 75 assists, six aces and nine digs while Madsen recorded 31 kills while hitting .527. Windorski finished with 25 kills on .360 hitting and led the Mavericks with 15 blocks, a 1.15 per set average.
Adams State, Fairmont State and Fort Hays State had two selections apiece. ASU's were Sienna Markovich and Aubrey Rothermich. Fairmont was represented by Grace DeVall and Natalie Zemba while Fort Hays State placed Mylie Brown and Ashlyn Reeves.
Fairmont State Match Recap
The Mavericks dominated the Fighting Falcons, who qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division II Tournament out of the Atlantic Region.
Outside hitters
Karsen Breeding and
Ashlee Macias finished with eight kills each to lead the Maverick offensive attack. Macias also added four service aces as the Mavs had a big 11-2 edge in that category.
Henley Madsen and
Addie Ritterbush chipped in seven and six more kills, respectively. Madsen hit .462 while Ritterbush hit .500 on her ten swings from the right side.
Jaycee Windorski also put down five kills on .571 hitting from the middle.
Hewlett made the start at the setter position and recorded 15 assists and a pair of kills along with an ace.
Ashlyn Tafoya also ran in the Mavs' 6-2 formation and recorded 14 assists and five digs along with another ace.
Meanwhile, Grant recorded 11 digs and two aces while helping hold the Fighting Falcons to a negative .022 hitting percentage.
Joise Nobbe had seven kills to pace the visitors, who were held to just 20 total kills, 18 fewer than the Mavs.
CMU also had a big 43-28 edge in digs.
Adams State Match Recap
The Mavs were just as balanced in the evening match, finishing with 44 kills while committing just 11 errors.
They also had 11 service aces, from the hands of six different servers, and did not allow a single one.
Macias was one of five Mavericks with two aces and recorded ten kills and nine digs.
Meanwhile, Madsen and Ritterbush continued to shine on the right as both put down nine kills. Madsen hit .643 while Ritterbush hit .363.
Meanwhile,
Molly Whalen recorded six kills while Windorski chipped in five kills and six blocks.
Hewlett added 19 assists while Tafoya chipped in 17.
Grant had 14 digs while
Addison Wright registered a season-high 11.
The Grizzlies hit .151 as a team and received ten kills from Aubrey Rothermich. Carolisa Folau added nine and had nine digs as well.
Final Tournament Records
Colorado Mesa: 4-0
Adams State: 2-2
Fairmont State: 2-2
Fort Hays State: 2-2
Sul Ross State: 0-4
All-Tournament Team
Adams State
Sienna Markovich
Aubrey Rothermich
Colorado Mesa
Maya Grant
Hallie Hewlett
Henley Madsen
Jaycee Windorski
Fairmont State
Grace DeVall
Natalie Zemba
Fort Hays State
Mylie Brown
Ashlyn Reeves
