The Mavericks fought through three tough sets to defeat the Mountain Lions 3-0.
In the third quarterfinal game of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) tournament that Brownson Arena hosted, it was time for the home team to show why they were the number one seed.
The Mavericks knew that this tournament was going to be a good one when they got to host it with fans allowed in the arena.
“It’s so fun and I think it’s so special that we get to host it because my freshman year we won the tournament but we were at Mines playing and it’s a totally different vibe like it is always fun we always make it like our court wherever we are. Our bench is amazing but I think it was super fun to have all the fans especially now when a lot of places don’t let you have fans. So, I think it helped us even more,” junior outside hitter Holly Schmidt said.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) faced the number eight seeded University of Colorado- Colorado Springs (UCCS) team who they did not face at all this season.
That did not seem to phase either team though as out of the gate both teams came out strong. CMU was able to get the first point of the game on a kill from senior outside hitter Maddi Foutz.
The Mavericks got down 9-6 but a kill from sophomore right side Maranda Theleus gave the Mavericks the ball and they went on a 4 point run. In the run, two attack errors from Lauryn Shockley gave CMU back to back points. Another kill by Foutz gave the Mavericks a one point lead.
UCCS went on a three point lead of their own that the Mavericks once again had to come back from.
Redshirt junior Ashton Reece tied the game back up at 15 with a kill of her own. That was Reese’s only kill of the first set and it came at such a turning point in the game for her team.
After a UCCS kill by Julia Szilagyi, the Mavericks capitalized on two attack errors from the Mountain Lions.
The Mavericks went on two three point runs to gain a significant lead. By the end of their second three point run they were up 24-18. CMU secured the first set win by a kill from Foutz making the final score 25-20.
In the first set alone, CMU had 15 kills while UCCS had nine of their own.
The Mavericks continued to dominate offensively in the second set as they saw two kills in a row from sophomore middle blocker Savannah Spitzer followed by a kill from Reese.
Schmidt got in on the action and had her first kill of the set. CMU was in front for most of this one as they utilized Schmidt’s strength and she was able to get three kills in. Schmidt was also able to come up big time for the Mavericks from the back row as she had eight digs on the night.
UCCS claimed eight errors compared to the Mavericks four in the second set that the Mavericks were able to capitalize on.
Theleus was able to work well from the right side and had three kills of her own. From the right side the Mavericks had six kills.
“We are super balanced. I think that is one of the reasons we are undefeated at this point. If it’s not the right side it’s the outsides, if it’s not theirs it’s the middle and it is hard to defend against us because we can terminate from anywhere. So it was important Maranda had a good match I think we won that second set because she went off on the back side and Ara [Norwood] was finding a way to get her the ball. So it is a fun team because you don’t know night in and night out who is the one who is going to carry the load on the offensive side,” Head Coach Dave Fleming said.
A service error by Jordyn Kinsley gave the Mavericks a 2-0 lead in the game heading into the third set.
The third set started off the same way the first set did for the Mavericks by a Foutz kill to get the Mavericks the point. Foutz had two kills in the set.
The Mountain Lions were haunted by the number eight as they had eight errors once again in the third set.
Reese added to her kill total with three more as well as one block. Sophomore middle blocker Haley Hahn had three kills of her own and also one block. Hahn’s block came in the final play of the game.
Foutz led the team with nine kills as Theleus and Schmidt were right behind her with eight and seven kills.
On the defensive side of things Spitzer led the team with six blocks while junior libero Kerstin Layman led the team with ten digs.
The Mavericks were able to secure the victory over UCCS to move on to the RMAC Semi finals Friday night. The win tonight went into the record books for Fleming as it was his 300 win as the coach of the Mavericks.
The Mavericks will compete Friday night at 7:30 p.m against Colorado School of Mines in Brownson Arena.
