GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado volleyball continues alternating weekends at home and on the road, welcoming No. 20 Colorado Mesa University and Westminster College to Paul Wright Gym Friday and Saturday for a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches.

WESTERN COLORADO HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS
The Mountaineers in their first meeting with Colorado Mesa this season were the first non-ranked team to take a set from the then-No. 21 Mavericks, who had to rally from a set down for a 3-1 home win.

Western had also taken a set from another ranked team, No. 21 Colorado School of Mines, one week prior to the Mesa match.

Emily Mangone continues to lead the Mountaineer attack, recording a team-high 162 kills while also adding a team-best 20 service aces.

The Western attack is set up by the setting duo of Hailee Martinez and Lexi Wilmoth, who have nearly the same statistics. Martinez leads with 309 set assists, and Wilmoth is right behind with 218.

Though the distributors on the attack, Martinez and Wilmoth also are making their mark defensively, with the third and fourth-most digs. Martinez has come up with 94 and Wilmoth adds in 92.

The defensive leaders away from the net are Elizabeth Rupprecht and Mangone, who both have eclipsed 100 digs this season. Rupprecht nears the double-century mark with 178, and Mangone has come up with 157.

No. 20 COLORADO MESA HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS
CMU is 15-4 overall and 10-2 against RMAC opponents. Including its 3-1 win over Western, the Mavericks enter Friday on a seven-match win streak after dropping a 3-0 league decision to No. 2 Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Outside hitter Sydney Leffler was named the previous week's offensive player of the week in the RMAC after accumulating 35 kills in the Mavs' most recent two wins of their win streak. Teammate Sierra Hunt, however, is the leading attacker over the season for Mesa, posting up a rate of 3.24 kills per set, which is seventh among her RMAC peers.

The attack runs through setter Sabrina VanDeList, who is second in the RMAC at 11.27 set assists/set, while also leading the conference in service aces with 36 (0.56/set).

The Mavericks rank high in several team categories within RMAC statistics. They are second in kills/set (14.28) and assists/set (13.06), third in hitting percentage (.144), and fifth in blocks/set (1.99).

WESTMINSTER AT WESTERN COLORADO | SEASON STATS
The Griffins – 5-15 overall and 3-9 in the RMAC -- downed Western 3-0 in Salt Lake City on Sept. 30, but since that match have dropped five straight without earning two sets in any of those defeats. They will take on Fort Lewis College (7-11, 5-7 RMAC) on Friday before squaring off with the Mountaineers on Saturday.

Behind the efforts of Leila Cornejo and Sadie Babka, Westminster is fourth in the conference in total number of service aces (116), and fifth in aces/set (1.61). Cornejo is seventh in the league with a rate of 0.40/set and Babka is 12th at 0.33.

Cornejo is the primary setter for the Griffins with 529 set assists – 74 percent of the team total (714).

At the net, Lydia Parkinson (Miller) leads the team with 186 kills, and defensively its Malilei Myers with 47.0 blocks, a total that includes 23 solo blocks.

LOOKING AHEAD
Western will make its final road trip of the season on Oct. 28 and 29, taking on current-No. 2 Metro State Denver the first night before making the short trip across town to play Colorado Christian University.