GRAND JUNCTION/DURANGO, Colo. – The Western New Mexico University volleyball team will look to continue their push for positioning in the RMAC when they play a pair of big road matches at Colorado Mesa University and Fort Lewis College this weekend.


WNMU (19-5, 11-4 RMAC) entered this week in a three-way tie for second along with Regis and Colorado Mesa. Fort Lewis upset Colorado Mesa, 3-2, Tuesday evening leaving Regis and WNMU now alone in second. The top eight teams make the RMAC Tournament that begins on Nov. 19, with seven teams already holding at least 10 wins and Fort Lewis in eighth with an 8-8 record.


The Lady Mustangs will play Colorado Mesa (19-6, 11-5 RMAC) first on Friday night. Fort Lewis came back after dropping the first set to defeat the Mavs on Tuesday in five in Durango. CMU is 5-1 at home this season with their only loss coming in five to Metro State in their last home match. The Mavs rallied from two sets down earlier this season to defeat the Lady Mustangs in five in Silver City on Sep. 28.


Christian Otzen leads the Mavs in kills with over 300, while Jordyn Moody has over 1,000 assists. On defense, Sunni Rae Baird has 494 digs, while in terms of blocks Melissa Hess has 70.


First serve will take place Friday night at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available and posted on wnmumustangs.com


WNMU will head to Durango on Saturday to face Fort Lewis. FLC (8-16, 8-8 RMAC) pulled out a big victory Tuesday over CMU to move 1.5 games ahead of both UC-Colorado Springs and CSU-Pueblo for the last RMAC Tournament spot.


FLC is 4-2 at home this season as WNMU won the first matchup in Silver City back on Sep. 27, 3-0. Ashley Wells leads the team in kills with 286 and Heather Danny has 682 assists. On defense, Jenna Kinzer has 361 digs and Kristin Stephan has 68 blocks.


First serve will take place Saturday night also at 7 p.m. with live stats and video available for the match that will be posted on wnmumustangs.com


WNMU is 8-3 away from Drag's Court this season in true road contests. Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) and Bobbi Bayer (Granby, CO/Eddyville Blakesburg ) are close to reaching 300 kills as Pulu has 283 and Bayer with 277. Reigning RMAC Setter of the Week Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School) has 1,004 assists (11.03 per set). Digs have been spread out this season with seven Lady Mustangs tallying at least 100 led by 359 from Pulu. In terms of blocks, Kaysee Pilgrim (Phoenix, AZ/Barry Goldwater) has 77, along with 69 from Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom).