4-4 is not an ideal start entering conference play, but I wouldn’t give up on this Colorado Mesa University volleyball team just yet.
CMU is coming into Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play after having a rough outing at the Drury Invitational, but they are looking to get on the right track again.
“The bottom line is we have to be better every time we step onto the volleyball court, and that has to start in practice,” coach Dave Fleming said.
Two of the Maverick’s losses have come to ranked opponents and another who had received votes from the committee. CMU has seen what it takes to be one of the top teams in the NCAA, and they got valuable experience from playing Northern State University and Northwest Missouri State University. With that experience, the Mavericks expect to make a turnaround and expect to grow in their performance.
So far it has held to be true after two solid outings against New Mexico Highlands but lost a tough one to CSU-Pueblo 2-3.
CMU has been hit by injuries early in the season. Senior Katie Scherr is progressing to being completely healthy which could make this Mavericks team incredibly dangerous down the stretch. Ashton Reese missed the first two games of the season due to an injury and is working her way back into the lineup as well. Camille Smith was also injured during the Drury Invitational. It would only be common sense to say that fortunes should continue to turn for the better when Dave Flemming’s squad gets back to full strength.
The Mavericks still have seniors Kasie Gilfert and Camille Smith anchoring the middle, and they will help take the pressure off the first-time starters. Smith has since returned to the starting lineup after getting injured and Gilfert continues to look strong as she was named to the Drury Invitational All-Tournament team.
“At the beginning this year, I thought we were good enough and talented enough to get to nationals and compete with anybody, and we have that ability but I can’t force it out of our athletes, they have got to go do it,” coach Fleming said.”
The biggest issue for this Mavericks team has been attacking errors which is can be fixed by remembering the basics of the game and having a short memory if and when someone makes a mistake. CMU has been able to get wins despite attacking errors and low hitting percentages, but it has also been their downfall in big games. It starts with fixing the little mistakes.
“We just have to be more consistent, and we had 49 errors, and you aren’t going to beat anybody with that many errors…, so right now we aren’t worrying about the RMAC Championship… so we just have to take it one step at a time.” Coach Fleming said.
The defending RMAC Tournament Champions have a great balance of experience and youth, and their freshmen are stepping into their roles as the team has started to produce on a consistent basis. Freshman Maranda Theleus is fourth on the team in kills and she is getting more and more playing time as she has shown that she is ready to compete with anybody.
The roster has talent from top to bottom, and they have some incredible athletes spread out across the floor. If the Mavericks can consistently produce on offense and defense, this team will be incredibly dangerous come postseason time.
CMU has the talent and the ability to be back-to-back RMAC Champions, and they can use the Drury Invitational as that much-needed motivation.
The Mavericks hitting percentage is .224 and average 13.2 assists per game. Through eight games CMU has accumulated 155 errors as well. Gilfert leads the team in kills with 147, followed by Smith with 81 and Scherr with 77.
CMU
