Sports Reporter
scschroc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
Senior weekend for the CMU volleyball team ended in disappointment as its losing streak reached seven games. They lost to Western State Colorado University in five sets on Friday and Adams State College in three sets on Saturday.
Western State entered the weekend with the worst record in the conference, recording just one win on the season, and gave the Mavs a great opportunity to snap a five-match losing streak on Friday.
“Our mindset is to move on right to the next match,” senior middle Rachael Beaty said. “We can’t go back to Senior Night and change our losses from the weekend, but we are still in control of our future.”
The Mavs started Friday’s match with a 25-17 win in the first set, using eight Jordyn Moody assists and four kills from freshman Abby Ney. Western State jumped to a 21-14 lead in the second set before a block from Moody and Ney sparked a Maverick comeback. Kelly Regimbal took a Moody assist to make it 23-22, but Western State won two straight points to even the match.
A questionable false-hit call on Ney late in the third set gave Western State a 24-21 lead, and Western State’s Kallee Cool finished the set with a kill. The Mavs came out with a fire in the fourth set, jumping out to a 16-7 lead. Christian Otzen recorded 17 kills in the fourth set alone to even the match at 2-2.
Coach Dave Fleming told the team to stay focused heading into the final set and get the win. The focus was wasn’t there, however, and seven errors gave Western State the win.
“This was a huge win for our program,” said Western State coach Katie Moskowitz. “Mesa is a great team and we’ve been beat up, so this was great to see our girls step up.”
The Mavs have fallen victim to several injuries this season, losing Casey Ball to a torn ACL in the first match of the season. Starters Melissa Hess and Haleigh Higgins were also out with recent ankle sprains heading into the match against the Western Division’s top-ranked Adams State.
“I do think injuries affected us this weekend, but I don’t think that is why we lost,” senior libero Megan Rush said.
The Mavs came out strong against Adams but lost a close first set 25-23. The second set featured sloppy play from both sides, including five consecutive missed serves. A sprawling dig from Tiffany Petersen led to a kill from Regimbal to put the Mavs up 17-15, but Adams State’s Dominique Davis and Letisha Spencer overpowered the Mavs with 16 kills to take the second set 25-21.
Davis and Spencer played even better in the third set, combining for 23 kills. The Mavs used Regimbal’s and Beaty’s 18 kills to keep the set close, but a Spencer kill ended the Mav’s run and extended its losing streak to seven.
“The first time we played Adams, we won,” Rush said. “We weren’t supposed to win. They were nationally ranked, and we had no recognition. Now we haven’t been able to believe in how good we are consistently yet.”
Injuries in the form of Ball, Hess and Higgins haven’t helped the team, but the focus to work through the injuries is still there.
“We’ve had some really bad performances lately, and these injuries have been rough, but the underlying fact is that we have a great group of talented players,” Rush said. “As much as it hurts to have injuries right now, we still have all the tools to be competitive and beat teams in the RMAC. It’s a mentality thing with our team, it all comes down to confidence.”
The Mavs (13-10, 7-8 RMAC) look to snap the losing streak and gain momentum heading into the playoffs with a final regular season home match against Fort Lewis on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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