A Perfect Volleyball Start

Mariah Crownover • September 18, 2023

The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) women’s volleyball team opened their season picked third in the RMAC preseason poll and 21st in the nation according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Now they have surged to 12th in the country and lead the RMAC with a 10-0 record.

After the 4-0 start to the Oredigger Classic, the Mavericks were the only remaining undefeated team in the RMAC and they swept the conference player of the week honors.

Allison Waller was named the conference Defensive Player of the Week after making her debut in the libero uniform during the opening weekend. For the tenth time in her career, Sabrina VanDeList was named Setter of the Week. Outside hitter Sydney Leffler was the conference Offensive Player of the Week, in addition to being named AVCA/ GameChanger Division II Player of the Week after putting down 74 kills and 79 total points.

[/media-credit] Allison Waller before a serve. Waller has taken advantage wearing the libero jersey for the Mavericks, averaging 4.42 digs-per-set.

CMU returned home to host an early-season tournament for the first time in 11 years. They were set to play four matches over a three-day span against Cal Poly Humboldt, Fresno Pacific, Sioux Falls, and Dallas Baptist during the DoubleTree by Hilton Maverick Fall Classic.

“I just think it’s a super fun environment. Obviously, we have a really good crowd at Mesa, and having your friends there, you have somebody you want to play for and that gives you an extra push. The atmosphere is different because you want to show what you’ve been working on,” said Leffler.

[/media-credit] Sydney Leffler serving in the Maverick Fall Classic. Leffler has been dominant in the early season and leads the RMAC with 4.75 points-per-set.

In the home opener against Cal Poly Humboldt, middle hitter Savannah Spitzer had an impressive 17-kill start to the weekend while Leffler put down another 17 kills. VanDeList did her part with 42 assists and 18 digs to take down the Lumberjacks, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20. Spitzer hit at a .652 percentage, only having two errors on 23 swings. Waller set another career high with 18 digs, while middle hitter Aesha Alrashed and outside hitter Riley Daugherty added to the team efforts with a combined 14 kills and 4 blocks.

In their first game on the day, CMU fought back from one set down to claim a 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-16) victory over Fresno Pacific University. Daugherty had a breakout performance, with a season-high 16 kills and 10 digs. VanDeList had a double-double with 49 assists and 14 digs with a pair of aces while Woods had a career-high 19 digs.

Returning to Brownson on the same day, the Mavericks soared to 7-0 with a tight three-set sweep over visiting University of Sioux Falls. Leffler recorded a match-high 14 kills and Spitzer put down 13 with an additional three service aces.

Initiating the dominating performance was VanDeList, recording her third double-double of the weekend with 40 assists and 16 digs. Alrashed had a career-high eight kills and two blocks with an additional nine kills from Daugherty for the win On a night of dominating performances, head coach Dave Fleming picked up his 350th career win in the 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 victory.

“I’m not a huge fan of individual coaching accolades. To me, it just means that I’ve been here a long time and I’ve had a lot of really good athletes playing for our program. I appreciate the acknowledgement but to me, it’s about the team. I’m not going to get there unless I have good assistance coaches, good athletes on my team, and support from the administration,” Fleming said.

In a rematch of last season’s NCAA Tournament opening-round 5-set victory, the Mavericks closed out the tournament on Saturday against Dallas Baptist University (DBU) who were receiving national votes at the time.

In an orchestrated attack, Daugherty, Spitzer, Leffler, and Alrashed combined for 38 kills and seven blocks. The Mavericks finished with 44 kills on the night while holding DBU to .125 hitting, largely due to defensive efforts by libero Jordan Woods and Waller who had a combined 23 digs. CMU picked up a huge NCAA Division II South Central Region win, sweeping DBU 26-24, 25-20, 25-21.

“Our focus[on being undefeated] is knowing we have a target on our back that’s bigger than it was before. Especially in the RMAC, teams want to beat us all the time, so just knowing that we’re not satisfied with them and 10-0 means nothing right now other than we have to work harder in the gym and make the necessary improvements as we move into conference play,” said Leffler.

Following two tournament victories, the Mavericks looked just as dominant at the start of conference play. CMU went on the road and swept both Western Colorado University (25-19 25-11 25-22) and Fort Lewis College (25-20-26-24-25-20).

Against Western five CMU hitters had six or more kills thanks to VanDelist who totaled 36 assists. In the match, she became the sixth player in program history to surpass the 3,000-assist mark. VanDelist also then led the team against Fort Lewis doing a bit of everything with 32 assists, seven digs, two aces, two kills and two blocks.

[/media-credit] Middle hitter Nicole Martin (left) and setter Sabrina VanDelist (right) combine for a block against Cal Poly Humboldt.

The 10-0 start is the second-best start in program history after the team went 15-0 to start the 2021 spring season. When the new AVCA poll comes out CMU will more than likely move up the rankings setting up a top-ten clash between the Mavericks and MSU-Denver this weekend here at Brownson Arena.

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