COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs can clinch an RMAC Tournament berth with a pair of wins as the Mountain Lions (14-8, 9-5 RMAC) travel to Colorado's Western Slope for a Friday match at Western State and a Saturday match at Colorado Mesa. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.
Two victories this weekend will secure the third straight trip to the conference tournament for UCCS. The Mountain Lions would still be able to tie for eighth with Colorado State-Pueblo, but UCCS holds the tiebreaker with a combined set record of 5-4 against the ThunderWolves.
UCCS is tied for fourth in the conference standings with Adams State and is also playing for a chance to host a quarterfinal match of the 2016 RMAC Tournament. The top four teams would host, but if the season ended today, the Mountain Lions would be the No. 5 seed since the Grizzlies won the only meeting between the two teams on Sept. 24. UCCS needs to finish one match better than Adams State in the final two weekends to hold the advantage in the tournament seeding.
Several Mountain Lions are going into the final month of the regular season in position to move up career charts.
Morgan Evans' 2,613 career assists are 153 away from tying for third,
Natasha Habert's 1,211 career digs are 195 away from fourth, and
Cassidy Bush's 889 career kills are 28 from eighth, her 250 block assists are 16 from fourth and her 288 total blocks are 29 away from sixth.
Evans is second in the conference this season with 11.01 assists per set and is on pace for the fourth-best average in program history. She is No. 10 in program season records with 947 total assists and is 53 away from the eighth 1,000-assists season in program history. If Evans maintains her average through the regular season with only three-set matches, she is on pace for finish seventh with a projected total of 1,079.
Habert is fifth among the conference liberos with 5.01 digs per set and is on pace to set the program record. She is already ninth in program history with 431 digs, and is on pace to finish with 491 at the end of the regular season with assuming three-set matches in the last four contests. It would be the third-most program history and 35 off the record, with no postseason matches included or any matches going beyond three sets.
Western State is one match behind UCCS in the standings and in a similar situation as UCCS in the second-to-last weekend of the season. The Mountaineers have won four of their last five matches and currently tied with Colorado Christian for sixth. Molly Hothan is sixth in the RMAC with a .296 hitting percentage and Tori Gaherty is ninth with 3.44 kills per set as the duo lead the Western State offense.
Colorado Mesa is tied for second in the RMAC at 12-2 with MSU Denver, and is ranked No. 4 in the first NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings this week. The Mavericks will take on the Roadrunners on Friday before the Mountain Lions on Saturday. Colorado Mesa has won nine of the last 10 matches since Sept. 24, and the last three since Oct. 22. The Mavericks have the second-best defense in the conference in holding opponents to .148 hitting and is the top serving team with 1.49 service aces per set. Mackenzie Edwards is second in the RMAC with 3.86 kills per set, one position ahead of UCCS'
Alyssa Brinton's 3.78 average.
Both matches this weekend will be broadcast live with video and audio through GoMountainLions.com.
