The Mesa State volleyball team opened home conference play this week by sweeping Western New Mexico University Friday night and New Mexico Highlands on Saturday.
The Mustangs were welcomed by a raucous Mesa State student section, some of them even clad in bikinis. The atmosphere left an impression not only the athletes and coaches, but the students as well.
“I’ve never been to a game here at Mesa State with this much enthusiasm in the building. It’s a cool thing to be a part of,” Mesa State student Chrissy Hawkinson said.
The opening home game didn’t disappoint as Brownson Arena remained electric during every point of the match.
“The crowds here have been awesome, visiting coaches always tell me how great of a student section we have here at Mesa State. It makes playing and coaching in front of these students a real pleasure,” coach Dave Fleming said.
The ladies needed that energy as the scores stayed close. The first set, a back and forth affair, ended 26 -24. The second and third sets ended 25-23. The third and final match was highlighted by senior setter Tara King, who led the Mavs in both digs and assists, tallying 14 and 32 respectively.
The Lady Mavs had little time to reflect on the win as they returned to Brownson Arena on Saturday to take on the Cowboys in an RMAC match-up. Mesa State dominated the Cowboys from the opening serve leaving little doubt of the final outcome, sweeping New Mexico Highland 25-18, 25-18, 25-14. The win was Mesa’s 4th in a row taking their record to 4-3 in conference and 9-6 overall. Junior middle hitter Antoinette McCormick dominated the net leading the Mavs with 12 kills. More impressively is she did so with only making one error in 24 shot attempts.
Coach Fleming sees an improvement in every match.
“I think we’ve been more consistent in our middle attack during our win streak,” Fleming said. “We’ve got room to grow as a team. I know we have as much talent on the roster to compete with anybody in the RMAC.”
Despite getting off to a slow start this season Fleming and the team believe that they can get a NCAA tournament bid.
“We just missed the NCAA tourney last year, I expect us to continue improving and have a record comparable to our 16-3 conference record of last year,” Fleming said. “We have to take it match by match, I expect us to finish strong setting us up well for the tournament.”
The Lady Mavs continue their 10-match home stand Thursday to take on Westminster College of Utah.
chughes@mesastate.edu
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