by Andrew Kiser
The third time was not the charm.
The CMU volleyball faced off against the MSU-Denver Roadrunners for the third time on Thursday, Dec. 1, in the NCAA South Central Regional. Like previous times before the Roadrunners proved to be too much for the Mavs as the team lost 3-2.
After the team lost 3-1 at Brownson Arena and then lost 3-0 at Metro, the Mavs took the Roadrunners to five sets.
“We played a lot better, we played with a lot more fight,” head coach Dave Fleming said. “We made them change what they wanted to do.”
CMU’s Mackenzie Edwards finished the game with a career day. She finished the game with a career-high 25 kills to go along with 30 digs.
“I think a lot of it came from our change in defense,” Edwards said. “And then everybody was playing well, so that helped me get those great stats. It was a team effort that helped me to get to that point.”
While Edwards had one of her best games as a Mav, she found the overall game “disappointing.”
“I did have this great game and everybody had a great game,” Edwards said. “We played our hearts out and we played absolutely one of our best games and we still couldn’t win, but it was good that we went out on a high note, but it was bittersweet.”
Going into the tournament, the Mavs had lost 11 straight sets. A number that Fleming did not want his team to think about.
“I didn’t want them to focus on that number at all, so I never brought it up,” Fleming said.
The game began with CMU winning the first set, 25-22. The team took the lead for good at 7-6, but the Roadrunners were never far behind.
After the Roadrunners cut the lead to two at 23-21, the Mavs called a timeout. After the stoppage, the Mavs won two out of the next three points with kills by Camille Smith and Katie Scherr.
In the second set, both teams traded leads. When the game was tied 17-all, Metro scored the next three points and never looked back. The Roadrunners won the set, 25-20.
The Mavs played their best overall game in the third set. The team had 17 kills and limited the Roadrunners to hit a team-low hitting percentage, .049. CMU won the set, 25-16.
“We were so amped up about losing that second game that we said, ‘no, we will comeback and win this third set,’” Edwards said. “Everyone stepped up in that set and we were able to dominate Metro.”
In the fourth set, CMU was four points ahead from winning the game after taking a 21-20. However, the Roadrunners won straight points before the Mavs called timeout.
CMU took the next point thanks to a kill by Hattie Gianinetti, but Metro won the next two points and won the set, 25-22.
The fifth set began with both teams trading points. However, when the score was tied 9-all, the Roadrunners won the next six points. The Mavs lost the final set, 15-9.
Besides Edwards, Scherr was the only other Mav to finish with double-digit kills with 14. Taylor Woods added 19 digs.
The Mavs ended their season losing their final six games and finished the year with an 18-10 record.
