The Mesa State volleyball team is favored to win the RMAC West Division according to the RMAC Preseason Poll. The team is returning three starters from last season’s west division championship team; seniors Antionette McCormick and Tara King and junior Whitney Howard. Last year King was named the RMAC Setter of the Year.
The Mavericks opened the 2010 season this past weekend at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic which is hosted by Colorado School of Mines in Golden. On Friday, the Mavericks started the season on the right note by sweeping both Augustana College South Dakota and Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
McCormick opened the season by recording 11 kills and 6 block assists in the win over Augustana. Freshman Sara Kemp made her collegiate debut and had 10 kills, 5 digs, a game high 3 block solos and 3 service aces. On the defensive side, Meagan Bosch and Howard combined for 25 digs. King finished with 24 assists, 7 digs and 7 blocks in the three matches against Augustana.
In the sweep against Minnesota-Moorhead, McCormick stayed hot and posted 13 kills and 6 digs. Kemp played like a veteran in the second match of the night as well. She tallied up 6 kills, 11 digs, and 4 block solos. Howard and Bosch recorded 13 and 10 digs in the second victory of the season.
On Saturday, the Mavericks faced their biggest challenge of the early season. They faced 15th-ranked Southwest Minnesota State University. They lost the match 0-3, but kept it close in every set. McCormick finished with a match high 14 kills. Bosch added 11 kills and 7 digs. King was really impressive with 31 assists out of 35 attempts for a .886 assist percentage.
Despite a season high 19 kills from Bosch and 17 kills from McCormick, the Mavs lost a very close 5-set match to Abilene Christian University (ACU). In the match, junior transfer Celest Alofipo recorded her first double double of the year with 11 kills and 15 digs. King was named to the Oredigger Classic All-Tournament Team. She finished with 60 assists, 15 digs and four kills in the five set loss to ACU.
MSC (2-2-0) overall will travel to Kearney, Nebraska for the UNK Invitational and play another four matches. They will start league play Sept. 16 against Metropolitan State College of Denver.