By Andrew Kiser
The CMU volleyball team began its season in the Oredigger Classic, and came away with a 2-2 record.
The team played its first two games Friday against the number six and 13 ranked teams in the country, the Wayne State College Wildcats and the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers, respectively.
The Mavs faced off against the Wildcats in their first game of the tournament. The Wildcats won the first two sets 25-22, but the Mavs won the next set 25-17.
In the end, Wayne State won the fourth set 25-22 and CMU started the season with a loss. Outside hitter Mackenzie Edwards finished the game with 17 kills and 15 digs. Libero Taylor Woods added 23 digs.
“We were super competitive against Wayne State,” head coach Dave Fleming said. “we scored more points than them, we had more kills than them, we out dug them. They just have more experience by going to nationals last year, they just scored the important points.”
In the next game, Nebraska-Kearney was in total control for most of the game. The Lopers won the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-11, but the Mavs won the next set 25-20. In the fourth set, the Lopers put the game away by winning 25-14.
With the loss, the Mav’s record was 0-2. Outsider hitter Gabriela Dias had a game-high 14 kills and setter Samantha Ritter had 25 assists.
“We weren’t as competitive against Kearney and I think we were disappointed about the Wayne State loss,” Fleming said. “Kearney is super solid and they are one of the best teams for a reason. So they showed us where we need to go, but we won a set. I think it shows that we played well and we can compete with them.”
The next day, the Mavs faced off against the Dallas Baptist Patriots and the Indianapolis Greyhounds. This time CMU came away with wins.
“Our attitude for [Saturday] was it is a new day, reset and we will play our way,” Edwards said. “I felt [Friday] we were nervous because it was the first real games that we were playing, but I thought we did a better job of playing our style of game and it was a lot better.”
The first game was a three set sweep against Dallas Baptist. The Mavs won the sets, 25-16, 27-25 and 25-23. Edwards finished with a game-high 15 kills, Dias added 12 kills and Ritter had 40 assists.
“They responded really well, it is tough going 0-2 and then coming back and sweeping somebody,” Fleming said. “Dallas Baptist is usually at the top of the Heartland Conference, so we did a very good job.”
“Being able to beat a team in three is always a confidence boost and I think that helped us with our second game,” Edwards said.
The final game of the Oredigger Classic for the Mavs was against Indianapolis. In the first set, the Greyhounds were in the lead for most of the set. But when the Mavs were behind 17-14, the team took control and won the set, 25-21.
The second set went to the Greyhounds, 25-23, but the Mavs made adjustments to help put away Indianapolis.
“We made sure we were focusing on plays,” Fleming said. “We were having a hard time running plays that we wanted to run and we had to make plays other ways.”
However the team was able to focus by winning the next set 25-21. In the fourth set, the Mavs easily won, 25-16.
Edwards led the way with 13 kills to go along with 16 digs and three blocks and Woods added 25 digs. Setter Hana Peterman finished with 17 assists.
“We were able to dig deep within ourselves,” Edwards said. “We worked hard, our defense was amazing, we were touching balls on blocks and our setting was good. Everything flowed well.
With the win, the Mavs finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.
The Mavs’ next game will be Friday, Sept. 9, against Lubbock Christian in the Tarleton Tournament, in Stephenville, Texas.
