The Mavericks fell to fifth in the RMAC volleyball standings after dropping a crucial game to the Colorado School of Mines.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) played two very different teams in the Orediggers and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs over the weekend. Colorado Mines was sitting right behind CMU in the RMAC standings before this weekend, and the Mountain Lions are on the outside looking in for the RMAC Tournament.
“It was a tough loss last night against obviously losing in five to Colorado School of Mines, but I liked the way that we were fighting,” CMU Head Coach Dave Fleming said. “If you look at the stat sheet we out hit them and we out dug them but we just lost in the final scoreboard, so that was a disappointing loss and I think tonight it just took us a while to get going.”
The first game was on Friday against the Orediggers, and this game was played well by both teams as it went to five sets and every set was decided by five points or fewer. Lindsey Jin for CSM had 23 kills which led the whole game, but redshirt junior Kasie Gilfert was close behind with 21 kills for the Mavericks.
The first set opened with the Mavericks going on a 10-8 lead, but neither team was able to gain a clear edge early in the set. The Orediggers couldn’t break free of the Mavericks until their 20 point as they went on to win the first set 21-25.
The Mavericks scored the first point of the second set, but every point the Mavericks scored, the Orediggers answered with a point of their own. CMU got down 18-22 late in the second set, but they turned it around to take the lead 24-23. The Mavericks ended up winning the set 29-27 as each team was matching the other’s output.
The third set to an odd twist early as the Mavericks took a 10-4 lead before the Orediggers ended up taking the lead back with their 16 point. This set too needed extra points before CSM ended up taking the 2-1 lead with a 28-26 win in the third.
Again, CMU took a big lead but this time the Mavericks kept their distance from the Orediggers and maintained a big lead. CMU played like they had to win the game to stay alive, and they did just that as they won the fourth set 25-21 to extend this match one more game.
The fifth and final set started with a five to five tie, as both teams fought to stay alive. The Orediggers stepped up to the challenge as they won the fifth set 15-11 to take control of the fourth spot in the RMAC.
Redshirt sophomore Ashton Reese came back after missing time with an injury to play an excellent game with 10 kills and four blocks through four sets.
“I think the first game was a struggle, we didn’t have a sense of urgency on defense, we knew that UCCS didn’t have a great record so I think that played into it a little bit,” Dave Fleming said. “Then we figured out hey this is a college team on the other side, and now we have to pick it up and play. Once they figured that out it was pretty good.”
On Saturday, Nov. 9 the Mavericks played UCCS and responded well to the first home loss of their season by getting a clean sweep to win the match. Reese led the Mavericks in kills with 12 and she also had a .500 hitting percentage.
The first set opened with the Mountains Lions taking an 11-8 lead, but CMU stayed within three points before taking the lead. UCCS tried to stay in the lead, but when the game was tied at 20 points, the Mavericks took control to win the set 26-24.
The Mountain Lions kept the second set close early, but they shot themselves in the foot time and time again, as they had 11 errors in bad sets, service errors or attack errors to let the Mavericks take control of the set. CMU took advantage of the errors by UCCS to win big 25-14 to take control of the match 2-0.
The Mavericks got out to a slow start in the third set, as UCCS took an early lead 11-8. The Mavericks were soon on top of the game, and although they couldn’t gain clear control of the set, they ended up closing out the game 25-23.
“I think it’s just the fighting, sometimes it doesn’t look like they have a ton of energy out there, but Camille just has this internal fight that you just can’t see until she makes a play and it’s kind of hard to get used to as a coach, but it’s there,” Fleming said. “I think our team is just getting used to that, and they know whatever situation they are in that they can come back and win.”
Gilfert was the only other Maverick in double figure kills with 11 to push her total to 359 on the season.
CMU’s next game will be their final home game and senior night against Western State Colorado University at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 in Brownson Arena.
