Kasie Gilfert didn’t slow down after being named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week in her performance on Tuesday night where she logged 18 kills, four blocks and three digs. Gilfert’s performance helped the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team get a big statement win against Western Colorado University where they swept the Mountaineers in three sets. The Mavericks had a team total of 53 kills and 51 assists.
“I thought it was a really fun atmosphere and they had a lot of people there, and I think we responded well coming off the Pueblo loss, and this team beat Pueblo. So, we knew we had to play well, and we did,” Head Coach Dave Fleming said.
The first set started with the Mavericks going on a 5-2 run, but in the blink of an eye, the Mountaineers were up 6-5. This set was hard-fought on both sides as the set seemed closer than the score actually was down the stretch. CMU ended this set on a five-point streak to gain momentum going into the second set.
The second set was opened by the Mountaineers scoring the first three points, but CMU answered with three points of their own as both teams kept the scoring even for the first part of this set. The eleventh point for the Mavericks was the turning point in the match as they went on a five-point run to take firm control and win the set 25-20.
“We were much more disciplined on defense, serve receives and blocking, which is huge because if we do those three things well, we are going to be tough to beat,” Head Coach Fleming said “That leads to our offense as well, so if we do those things well the trend of the offense is a lot better, everybody feels more comfortable, but they don’t have to practice it. They have faith in the defense that good things are going to happen.”
With every ounce of momentum leering on their side, the Mavericks opened the third set on a 6-0 run, but the Mountaineers were not going away easily. WCU answered with multiple two-point runs to reduce the lead, but the Mavericks were just playing too well as they won the final set 25-20 to move to 6-5 on the season. CMU was relentless in their attack and they refused to lose the lead in the final set as they kept their foot on the gas pedal until the final point was scored.
“I think obviously it is huge to get the road win and go 2-1 in the RMAC, going into our first home weekend. I think we just got to keep working on our consistency,” Fleming said, “We played at a really high level for spurts tonight, so we have to keep working on that so we can be more consistent more often.”
The Mavericks were led by their seniors Gilfert, Camille Smith and Katie Scherr as they had a combined 39 kills in the game to get their second conference win.
Sophomore Kerstin Layman led the team in digs with 16. Maddi Foutz also had five kills and seven digs. CMU will play their first home game of the year against Westminster College on Friday, Sept. 27 at Brownson Arena at 7 p.m.
