by Andrew Kiser
The game was not pretty for the CMU volleyball at first after they shook off game point three times in the first set and then in the second set when the Mavs never led and lost by 13 points.
However, the Mavs were able to turn it around against the Western State Mountaineers and won the next two sets, for their 17th win of the season.
“We were lucky that we were not down 2-0 going into the locker room, so that was really big,” head coach Dave Fleming said. “That was a point we are emphasizing right now is that they need to make big plays on defense and not wait until our backs are against the wall. We can do it, sometimes we don’t have that sense of urgency.”
The game was a fast turnaround for the team as they came back from South Dakota on Sunday morning and then had to play against the Mountaineers on Tuesday.
“It’s tough coming back from South Dakota with that 12 hour bus drive and then a quick turnaround on Tuesday,” setter Ali Svorinic said. “But as a team we know we’re tired and Western is going to give us a run for our money, but we are going to have to play as a team and go after every single ball.”
The match began with both teams trading points back and forth. The Mountaineers were able to pull ahead by three at 22-19. The Mavs then called a timeout, but after the timeout, the Mountaineers won two out of four points to be at match point at 24-21.
The Mavs then won the next four points thanks to a kill by Gabriela Dias, two kills by Allison Smith and a bad set by Western. The Mountaineers were able to tie it back, but the Mavs put the set away with kills by Smith and Mackenzie Edwards.
CMU won the first set, 27-25. The Mavs also had a game-high 19 kills in the set.
“It’s fun coming back like that,” Svorinic said. “It’s stressful to be in that situation, so we try not to do that as much as possible, but you are going to be in there on occasion. We try to focus on every single ball and not look at the scoreboard to see that they are at match point and freak out about it, but to look at it as fine, one ball at a time, and we eventually got there and took that first set.”
The second set was less dramatic as the Mavs trailed the entire set and the Mountaineers took control early and won the set 25-12. Western had 13 kills and only three errors in set. CMU shot a .000 shooting percentage in the set.
“(Western) just got the momentum and kept it,” Fleming said. “We tried a lot of different things and tried to force it. We talked about scoring 10 points with one contact and it doesn’t work, we have to play good, simple volleyball and we weren’t able to do it, but the good thing about volleyball is that we are back at 0-0 in game three, so it’s okay.”
In the third set, the Mavs trailed once again. After the Mountaineers scored four straight point and took an 18-13 lead, the Mavs called their second and final timeout.
The Mavs then rattled off seven straight points before Western called their own timeout. But the Mavs scored five of the next seven points and won the set, 25-20. The Mavs limited the Mountaineers to a hitting percentage of .000.
In the fourth and final set, CMU never trailed. The team had 17 kills and also a team-high hitting percentage of .310. The Mavs won the fourth set, 25-22.
“I think this win was definitely important,” Svorinic said. “Just winning at home and keeping the crowd involved is definitely good for our team having that momentum.”
“I told Kevin John, the Western State coach, that it was great volleyball,” Fleming said. “Both teams kept grinding, making good plays on defense and they did a great job on defense on their side, so it was a great win for us.”
Edwards and Dias both had a game-high 18 kills and Edwards finished with a double-double with 14 digs. Svorinic finished with 52 of the team’s 53 assists.
“(Edwards and Dias) definitely makes my job easier, so that’s always nice,” Svorinic said. “They bring a ton of positive energy to the team and so I think when they are on fire, they put us in good standings and keeps us super positive and keeps us wanting to do more.”
The Mavs then traveled to Salt Lake City to play against the Westminster Griffins on Friday. The team won the first set, 25-21, even though they committed 13 errors in the set.
In the second set, the Mavs never trailed and had a game-high shooting percentage of .389. The team also had 18 kills in the set. CMU won the set, 25-17.
The third and final set, CMU once again never trailed. The team led as much as seven before winning the set, 25-20.
Hattie Gianinetti had a game- high 12 kills and Katie Scherr had 11 kills and Alyssa Chutka had 10 kills. Svorinic added 35 assists and Taylor Woods finished with 17 digs.
With both wins, the team is now 18-4 on the season and 12-2 in the RMAC.
The Mavs’ next game will be against at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, against MSU Denver at Brownson Arena. The team will then play against UCCS at 7 p.m. the next day.
