T
he women’s volleyball team finished third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) last season with a 15-3 conference record and a 21-7 overall record. They qualified for their eighth NCAA Postseason Tournament appearance under head coach Dave Fleming, who is going into his 18 season with the team.
“It was a really solid season. We were able to compete for championships and that was one of our goals. We got to the RMAC semi-final and made it to the NCAA tournament. I’d say it was a good year for us, but not where we expect to be year in and year out,” Fleming said.
The Mavericks’ only conference losses came against second-ranked Colorado School of Mines and first-ranked Metro State University-Denver (MSU). In fact, the team was up two sets to none during their last showing against MSU, but failed to clinch the match before MSU stormed back to win three sets in a row.
This season, the Mavericks return with all of their starters and some added firepower, and are looking to avenge their RMAC losses.
Redshirt senior libero Kerstin Layman was the fall 2021 RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and also garnered first-team All-RMAC honors. Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Leffler was named as the fall 2021 RMAC and AVCA All-South Region Freshman of the Year and was also voted as a first-team All-RMAC player.
Redshirt senior outside hitter Maddie Foutz is returning from an injury that sidelined her for the entire fall 2022 campaign. Foutz was the spring 2021 RMAC Player of the Year. Redshirt sophomore setter Sabrina Vandelist, a two-time All-RMAC player herself and the Spring 2021 RMAC Freshman of the Year, rounds out an acclaimed back-court.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Sierra Hunt is also pushing to see lots of playing time.
“Our defense is doing phenomenal. I think it’s probably our deepest defensive specialist bench since I’ve been here. That starts with Kersten Layman. And then goes Allison Waller, Jordan (Jo Jo) Woods, and then Libby Borgerdean. They’re all doing fantastic. I’d play them all if I could,” Fleming said.
Redshirt senior middle blocker Tye Wendhorn is also coming off a notable season, where she was named as an AVCA Honorable Mention and amassed a second-team All-RMAC selection.
Redshirt junior Savannah Spitzer joins Wendhorn at the front of the net as the other Maverick middle blocker. Spitzer was a second-team All-RMAC honoree last season.
Graduate student middle hitter/outside Erin Curl rounds out the front line and brings Division I experience to Colorado Mesa University (CMU) after spending her previous seasons at the University of Alabama and Loyola Marymount University.
“There is a precedent for championships, whether that was just the conference or even a national championship. That’s something that I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to do at a previous school. I wanted to take this [team] to the championship and this team kind of has that competitive foundation already. I knew I really wanted to be a part of that. Then also, just the community of Colorado Mesa in general, it seems like a pretty involved community with the town. And that’s a really big thing for me. It makes everything more special when you have a community who really backs you up,” Curl said.
The team has a plethora of veteran, all-conference players fighting for starting spots on top of a young foundation.
“I think the big part of it is the ‘been there done that’ mentality that they know what to expect as it goes on, in regard to this Oredigger tournament. This might be the fourth time for some of these athletes. So they know what to expect when they walk in the gym and they know what to expect from the teams that we’re going to see. They know the performance level that we have to have every day in practice. So, I think that’s huge,” Fleming said.
At the time of writing, the CMU volleyball team is ranked 24 in the nation with a 5-2 record.
The team competed in the annual Oredigger Volleyball Classic in Golden, Colorado to start the season.
The Mavericks broke a 30 year hitting percentage record (.544) when they swept Northern State University 3 sets to none in their first match.
The Mavericks then avenged last year’s postseason loss by sweeping then number 19 University of Texas at Tyler. Hunt recorded 16 kills during the match.
CMU dropped a hard-fought match against number 13 Southwest Minnesota State 3-2. Mavs were up 2-1 sets before the Mustangs rallied back at the end. CMU still managed to outhit, out-block and out-dig the Mustangs, despite the loss.
Lastly, CMU swept Colorado Christian University 3-0 in a non-conference match on Aug. 27. Leffler recorded a team best 28 kills. This marks the Maverick’s seventh straight win over the Cougars since 2018.
Curl was named as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and finished the weekend with 36 kills and 10 blocks. Teammate Hunt was also named to the All-Tournament team after recording 54 kills and 19 digs.
CMU traveled to Tampa Bay , Florida and competed in the Tampa Volleyball Classic. They swept their first match against Wheeling University 3-0 before taking on number one ranked University of Tampa. The Mavericks went up two sets to one but could not complete the upset. The team bounced back, however, and swept their last match against Tusculum University.
The Mavericks first home match will be against rival Westminster College on Sept. 9t at 6 p.m. at Brownson Arena.
