The volleyball team had its year cut short last week after one of the better seasons in recent program history.

The Mavericks (21-8, 13-7 RMAC) were hoping to break their four-game losing streak to the Colorado Christian Cougars (20-10, 14-6 RMAC) that dated back to 2009. Unfortunately, the visiting team had other plans.

The Cougars took the first two sets of the match and fought off a valiant comeback by the Mavs to come away with the victory in a 3-1 decision (25-19, 25-21, 26-28, 28-26). The early exit was a disappointment to a team that had aspirations of making the national tournament. Head coach Dave Fleming explained that the tenacity his squad showed in the final two sets was something to be pleased with.

“I’m very proud of our team,” Fleming said. “That’s the team I expect to see out there in a situation like that. Unfortunately, we did not play our best match. Colorado Christian is a good team and it seemed like they were more comfortable and more aggressive than us.”

The Mavs may have retired the 2013 season earlier than expected, but there was no shortage of success. Their 21-win season was the most they have racked up since winning 23 in 2005. 13 of those 21 victories this year came against RMAC opponents. They dominated the first half of the season going 15-2, losing only nine total sets during that run. They finished out 8-5 to reach their impressive win total and maintain a top spot in the conference standings.

The success in the regular season earned the Mavericks the No. 8 ranking in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, a feat they had not accomplished since the 2010 season.

“I’m proud of us and what we were able to do,” junior Casey Ball said. “We did really well facing adversity. We had girls who suffered concussions early on in the season and other injuries here and there, but we did a good job staying consistent throughout.”

Along with the team’s success, there were a number of individual accomplishments earned by the Mavericks. Junior middle hitter Melissa Hess, senior libero Sunni Rae Baird and sophomore outside hitter Abby Ney represented CMU on the All-RMAC teams. Hess was given first team honors after recording 52 digs, 338 kills and a team-high 93 blocks, and finished third in conference in hitting percentage with .347.

Baird, who was crowned the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, was voted to the second team after posting 69 blocks, a league-high 548 digs and was second on the team with 97 assists. Ney earned her way onto the third team with 276 kills, 112 digs, 85 total blocks and the fifth-best hitting percentage in the conference at .331.

The record books at CMU gained a new member after this season as well. Junior setter Jordyn Moody is now fifth on the all-time career assists list with 2,859, ninth on the season assist record list with 1,234 and seventh in assists per set in a season with 11.32.

With the 2013 season finished, coach Fleming explained that the goal remains the same for the program that still has room to improve.

“There are a lot of things to be happy with, but it’s not the individual accomplishments we’re working for,” Fleming said. “We want RMAC championships and we want to make it to the national tournament, and that’s what we’ll be shooting for next year.”

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu