In the AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships, the Colorado Mesa University was defeated in the semifinals by number-one seed Texas A&M University-Kingsville and in the third-place game, CMU lost to two-seeded Spring Hill College. CMU would finish fourth overall to end the weekend.
CMU went 4-1 on the two opening days of the 12-team tournament. The championship game was won by Tampa, who was the only team to beat the Mavericks in pool play.
The Mavericks lost to TAMUK 3-2 on the final day of the tournament. The first match to conclude was the number two match where the duo of Macie Lachemann and Samantha Ritter lost in two sets to Kylexus Block and Madison Brabham.
Lindy Dixon and Hailey Crane were the next Mavericks to fall to the Javelinas, losing in two sets 21-8 and 21-9. The third match to conclude was Katie Scherr and Portia Valdez losing to the duo of Whitney Walker-Tenley Housler 21-12 and 21-14.
In the final two matches Ara Norwood and Holly Schmidt got the first win for the Mavericks 21-11 and 21-15. Following that win, the duo of Magdalena Dabrowski-Kerstin Layman beating Nicole Murff and Christina Gragasin in three sets, winning 25-23, 7-21 and 16-14.
In the third-place game, CMU lost to SHC 0-5 to take fourth in the Gold Bracket. The first match to conclude was number three with Dixon and Ashton Reese losing in two sets by the duo of Sarah Senft and Brittany Bilotti.
In the number two match Ritter and Lachemann lost in two sets 21-11 and 21-17, followed by Scherr and Valdez losing to Payton Gidney and Kassandra Fairly in two sets.
The final two matches ended like the matches before them with none of the Mavericks team winning a set in the game against Spring Hill. Norwood and Schmidt lost to the duo of Taylor Hurst-Cassidi Sterrett 23-21 and 21-9.
Finally, Dabrowski and Layman lost in two 21-15 and 21-19 closing out the tournament, leaving just one more event left in their season.
The Mavericks didn’t end the weekend how they wanted but showed strength and growth for a first-year program, and this showing should carry into next weekend’s tournament in Broomfield, CO at the Sports Oasis.
