The Mavericks found themselves in an eerily similar situation from two weeks ago against Colorado School of Mines (CSM). A similar scenario that saw the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team lose in five sets for the second consecutive time to the Orediggers…and the season is now over.
CMU had three hitters in double figures while CSM had four in the quarterfinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament. Kasie Gilfert led the Mavericks with 15 kills through five sets. The defending RMAC Tournament champions were unable to repeat as their season came to a screeching halt in Golden on Tuesday night.
“We competed hard and made adjustments to what they were doing well. We learned from our mistakes and didn’t let them get us down, and I’m proud of the team,” CMU Head Coach Dave Fleming said.
In the first set, neither team could separate from the other, as they stayed within one point of each other until the 17 points for the Orediggers. After CSM broke the lead open, they quickly won the set 25-20 to grab the early momentum in the game, but these two teams know exactly how to react to one another.
“I was a little worried they were going to stay flat, but as soon as we started to block them, the energy on that side of the net really picked up,” Fleming said. “That is kind of this team, we start to make defensive plays and the energy starts to pick up and then we all play better.”
The Mavericks opened the second set on a 4-1 run before the Orediggers came back to tie the game up at five. CMU found themselves down 13-18 late in the set before completely flipping the momentum and ending the set on a 10-3 run to win the set and even the game.
The Orediggers controlled the set early taking a 15-8 lead and all the momentum with them, as they cruised to a 25-17 win in set number three.
The fourth set saw a 10-7 start with CMU taking the lead, but the Mavericks were just getting started. CMU jumped out to a 20-15 lead before five different Mavericks scored to take them to a decisive fifth game with their RMAC Championship hopes alive.
The Orediggers jumped out to an early 5-4 lead, but the Mavericks kept the set close to keep their season on the line. With a 9-11 deficit, the Mavericks went on a 4-1 run to take a one-point lead, but the Orediggers answered with three kills from three different players to win the set 15-13 and advance to the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament.
“Losing in five, just gives us the confidence that we can play with them, you get crushed by a team in three, you go okay what do we do, but we just made some minor adjustments,” Fleming said. “They kind of attacked the spots that we wanted them to attack, and we tried to slow down some of the middles. In the end, it came down to one play or another, and they made two huge plays.”
The Mavericks were looking to advance to back-to-back RMAC Championship games, but they weren’t able to get it done in a rematch of a crucial RMAC standings game that happened Nov. 8 that saw CMU lose in five sets.
The Orediggers Drew Stokes had 45 assists, 12 digs and 4 kills in the game to lead her team to a big victory.
