GUNNISON – Western State Colorado University women's volleyball team will take to the road for the second weekend in a row to take on Adams State University Friday evening in Alamosa and Fort Lewis College Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m.
 
The Mountaineers (7-5, 3-1 RMAC) are currently tied for third in the conference with the best conference start in program history since 2006. Western shares third with Colorado Mesa, Adams State, and CSU-Pueblo. The team has defeats from all three teams, but with two coming from non-conference competition that had hindered rosters.
 
Western's first competition of the week will be a rematch against rivals Adams State (8-5, 3-1 RMAC). The Mountaineers fell to the Grizzlies in three-straight sets three weeks ago in Pueblo, Colorado. Adams fell to a common opponent in the same tournament, Nova Southeastern, a team Western handled in five sets despite missing starters. With a win against Adams and an Adams defeat of Colorado Mesa Saturday, the Mountaineers would share third with CSU-Pueblo at worst.
 
The Mountaineers dynamic offense and defense has not gone unnoticed, as the team is on the edge of the top-50 power rankings by HERO sports. Tori Gaherty, Jordan Eatwell and Molly Hothan have led the attack, combining for 368 kills. Setter Allison Walker is third in the conference and top-50 in the nation with 10.64 assists per set, and is coming off a career-high 55 assists last Friday.
 
Defensively, Amanda Maestas is on track to become the career record holder in digs. She has 201 digs this season and needs less than that to take the record. She is joined by Caiden Rexius and Logan Franek with 92 digs, while Gaherty is close behind with 87.
 
The Mountaineers have a chance to make history by becoming the first team since 2003 to win five straight matches in conference. The last team to win six straight was by the 2001 team, that won 11 straight in conference matches and a 12^th postseason win. The record for straight wins is 15, held by the 2000 NCAA Tournament team.