GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Western New Mexico University volleyball team opened their final road swing of the regular season in style sweeping past Colorado Mesa in three (25-22, 25-21, 25-13) Friday night at Brownson Arena in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.


CMU (9-16, 4-11 RMAC) opened strong, taking a 5-2 lead before WNMU (13-11, 9-6 RMAC) began to get things settled down.


Still trailing by four, 11-7, the Mustangs came flying back after a timeout, as after an attack error, Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) posted a kill.


WNMU came back to tie the set at 12 on another attack error and then took the lead on the next point on a kill from Jordan Johnston (Boise, ID/Centennial High School).


The Mavericks continued to battle, forcing a couple more ties, with the last coming at 22.


The Mustangs sealed the set by capturing the next three points, with Pulu drilling a service ace, a double-block from Malayzha Dinkins (Corona, CA/Santiago High School) and Johnston and then an attack error gave WNMU the set, 25-22.


CMU started the second set just like the first by opening a 5-2 lead, before the Mustangs came back.


A service error opened the door, in which Dinkins tallied a kill and after CMU posted a point, two more attack errors helped WNMU come back to tie the set at six.


With the set tied at seven, WNMU began to gain some momentum by taking the next four points started by a Dinkins kill.
A bad set, an attack error and a kill by Dinkins gave the Mustangs the 11-7 lead.


CMU would get back to within two, 12-10, before another Mustang surge helped widen the gap.


Three errors by the Mavericks moved the lead to five before Pulu pounded a kill and a 16-10 lead.


The Mavericks had one more run left in them, cutting the lead back to two, 22-20, but the Mustangs were unfazed, as an attack error moved the lead to three, before a kill from Pulu and later one from Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) sealed the set, 25-21.


The third set remained close earlier on, with the teams tied at nine when WNMU again went on another run.


Helped by three Maverick attack errors and a kill from Pulu, the Mustangs had a 13-9 lead which forced a CMU timeout.


The Mustangs strung together four more points out of the timeout, with Rux and Pulu combining on a block and around two attack errors, Rux landed another kill which put WNMU in front by eight, 17-9.


The Mustangs would continue on to close out the set and the match, with Taylor Henderson (Pocatello, ID/Century High School) closing the match with a kill for the 25-13 victory.


Pulu was the only Mustang in double-digit kills with 12 and had just one error in 23 total attempts (.478). She also added five digs and three block-assists.


Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School) dished out 26 assists and five digs.


Johnston led the team in blocks with four block-assists, while Dinkins had three block-assists and three Mustangs with two.


WNMU hit at a .244 clip (32-13-78), while CMU was barely in the positive at .019 (32-30-105).


With the win, WNMU is in a three-way tie again with CSU-Pueblo and Adams State for the top-spot in the RMAC West Division heading into Saturday's games.


The Mustangs will travel a few hours south to play Fort Lewis in Durango Saturday night beginning at 7 p.m.


 
                   Western New Mexico vs Colorado Mesa Univ.
                      (Oct 28, 2011 at Grand Junction, CO)
 
  Western New Mexico def. Colorado Mesa Univ. 25-22,25-21,25-13
 
  Western New Mexico (13-11, 9-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School)
  12-2-3; Malayzha Dinkins (Corona, CA/Santiago High School) 6-0-3; Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) 5-0-2; Jordan
  Johnston 4-0-4; Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) 4-0-2; Taylor Henderson (Pocatello, ID/Century High School) 1-0-2; Totals
  32-2-8.0. (Assists) - Alyssa Melhack 26. (Dig leaders) - Marilee Frost (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School)
  9; Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) 7
 
  Colorado Mesa Univ. (9-16, 4-11) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kelly Regimbal
  8-1-1; Rebecca Sellers 8-3-1; Haleigh Higgins 7-0-1; Rachael Beaty
  3-0-1; Antoinette McCormick 3-1-0; Melissa Hess 2-0-0; Kelley Johnson
  1-0-1; Sunni Rae Baird 0-1-0; Megan Rush 0-1-0; Totals 32-7-4.0.
  (Assists) - Sunni Rae Baird 21. (Dig leaders) - Megan Rush 7; Haleigh
  Higgins 6
 
  Site: Grand Junction, CO (Brownson Arena)
  Date: Oct 28, 2011   Attend: 155   Time: 1:27   
  Referees: Chris Hermosillo, Rob Livingston