The Mavericks season ends in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament Semifinals as they lost 0-3 to the Orediggers.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) finished the game with seven block errors and 24 attack errors.
“Our defense was reaching a little bit, trying to do too much. When you have seven blocking errors, that means you are trying to do too much as a block instead of just your job,” Head Coach Dave Fleming said.
Sophomore right side/outside hitter Marada Theleus led CMU in kills with nine through two sets of play.
Colorado School of Mines (CSM) controlled the front line as they finished the game with 10 total team blocks.
The Orediggers came out swinging as they jumped out with a 6-2 lead in the first set. CMU answered with two kills of their own to try to establish some rhythm offensively.
CSM kept their foot on the gas pedal as they expanded their lead to five points. CMU cut into the Orediggers lead as Theleus picked up two kills to cut the deficit to 9-11. The Orediggers offense exploded as they ended the first set on a 14-4 run.
“The adjustment that we made was we were trying to get a different outside on [Taylor Hicken] so we felt that if we could slow her down, we would have a shot. Not stuff blocks necessarily but getting touches and she was just abusing us on the backside,” Fleming said.
The second set saw eight ties and four lead changes as both teams fought hard to earn the set win. The set with each team going on a run, but the game was tied at 10.
The Orediggers scored three points off of two of CMU’s attack errors and a kill from Megan Neil. The Mavericks were quick to answer with three points of their own to tie the game back up.
Theleus fired one through the Orediggers defense to give CMU a 16-15 lead. CSM gave themselves some cushion in the second set as they scored seven unanswered points to take a 22-16 lead.
The Oredigger’s momentum carried them to a 25-20 win in the second set, and they took their momentum into the third set.
CSM took an early 6-2 lead in the third set before CMU brought the game within one point as freshman outside hitter/right side Gabrielle Vogt registered her first kill of the game. The Orediggers offense went on an eight to two-run to open the game up and give CSM a 15-8 lead.
The Mavericks scored three unanswered points off of two errors the Orediggers and a service ace from senior libero/outside hitter Maddi Foutz. CSM and CMU traded runs, but the Orediggers were able to ride their momentum to a 25-17 win in the third set.
The Orediggers advance to take on Metropolitan State University-Denver in the RMAC Tournament Championship. Taylor Hicken and Rose Stuewe finished the game with 10 or more kills for the Orediggers.
Senior setter Ara Norwood finished with 13 assists in the game for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks ended their season with a 15-1 record, and their only loss came in this game. CMU was the number two team in the nation coming into this game.
“We have to carry that over, we’ve worked so hard, so it’s tough right now and it hurts but I mean, it’s the same team next year. We’ve got to use that, we have so many young people, and both Maddi and I are coming back too. I mean, we’ve just got to keep working, we can’t back off now because we’ve worked so hard to get here,” Norwood said.
