Amid one of the most successful beach volleyball seasons Colorado Mesa University (CMU) has seen is a pair that has their chemistry firing on all cylinders.
Redshirt juniors Holly Schmidt and Macie Lachemann have notched wins as a pair at the twos against the University of Utah, Arizona State University and the University of Washington, and started the season 5-0.
The pair this year has more wins than any other pair on CMU’s team, with their 12-6 record narrowly edging out teammates’ Jada Hall and Jessa Megenhardt’s 11-8 record. It’s also the most wins that both Schmidt and Lachemann have had in a season, beating Schmidt’s 9-8 personal record set in 2019 with Ara Norwood.
“I think this year, I’m a better player, it’s a better fit for me, and I have a good partner. I think it’s just been more fun. I feel like every game I go into, I could win this, like we could do this,” Schmidt said.
The Mavericks are 11-9 on the season, including 5-0 at home, with notable team wins over the Utes and the University of Oregon. The team is gearing up for the AVCA Small College Beach Championships starting April 14 in Tavares, Florida.
“It’s been cool to see how the program’s grown from the last few years to where we started to where we are now. And we’re in a good spot right as we head to Florida for the National Championship,” Head Beach Volleyball Coach David Skaff said.
Schmidt and Lachemann attribute their work as a pair to how well they know each other. Schmidt, a utility player, is from Castle Rock, Colo., and is majoring in Radiologic Technology. Lachemann, a defender, is from Arroyo Grande, Calif., and is majoring in Kinesiology.
“Macie and I have been roommates since freshman year. We’ve just grown, and we’ve been best friends. I think knowing each other well helps because on the court, I know what she needs, and she knows what I need, whether it’s support or whether I just need a kick in my butt saying like, ‘let’s go,’” Schmidt said.
This is their first year pairing together on the team. The connection wasn’t immediate – the first practices included struggles to find a good connection, before clicking come tournament time.
“We both have been playing beach volleyball for the majority of our lives. So I can tell when Holly takes a slight lean, or a step one way, I know exactly what she’s about to do, coming off the net and going towards the net, how she’s going to attack. I know everything she’s about to do before she does it, because of our beach IQ,” Lachemann said.
Schmidt was a four-year player on the indoor volleyball team as well, while Lachemann has focused on beach throughout her time at CMU.
According to Schmidt, the mentality of beach can be more difficult than indoor because of the lack of subbing – in other words, if they’re not performing well, they can’t switch with another teammate.
Some of the teams CMU is hoping to face and beat in the playoffs include the University of Tampa and Texas A&M University-Kingsville, who CMU lost to in late February 2-3.
“I think they feel pretty good, we feel pretty prepared,” Skaff said of the upcoming championships. “I think we’re very close to the top four, top five teams there. Kingsville was the national runner-up, we lost to them 2-3 at their place with 3 of those games at 13-15, so one more point and those could go either way.”
“I’m excited to play more D2s, we do play so many D1s that it’s kind of refreshing to go play the D2s and be able to compete more evenly. There are still D2s that are at a D1 level, kind of like we are, and they’re tough, but we’re looking forward to that and putting everything out there so that we can hopefully win that tournament and be national champions,” Lachemann said.
The pair attributes part of their success to the trust Skaff has in them.
[Holly and I] pretty much scream and yell at each other the whole time, like where to go, what to do to give us that edge, sometimes intimidate the other team by our loudness. [Skaff] said, ‘when I hear your voices go down, and I can’t hear you from five courts away, that’s when I know that I need to go over and just give you guys a little something extra to boost you to be able to win that game,’” Lachemann said.
The upcoming championships run from April 14-16, and will be played on Hickory Point Beach.
“We show up to tournaments, and I see much more potential of beating all the teams that we play than I have in the past. I used to go into it [thinking] they’re number 10 in the country, and we can’t really compete with them because we’re just a little D2, but now I’m seeing the number 10 teams, and I think, we can definitely compete with them,” Lachemann said.
