DURANGO/ALAMOSA, Colo. – With it becoming crunch time quickly, the Western New Mexico University volleyball team will play their final two road matches of the regular season this weekend against Fort Lewis College and Adams State Univeristy.

WNMU (16-7, 10-4 RMAC) has three regular season games remaining before starting the RMAC Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Right now the Lady Mustangs are tied with Regis for fourth in the conference standings, just a game back of Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver for second. Colorado Mines holds a one game lead on the field. The top four teams in the conference will host the first round matches on Tuesday, before the top remaining seed will host the semifinal and finals on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21. The winner of the RMAC Tournament will receive an automatic bid into the South Central Regional Championships, as the top eight teams qualify for regionals. Currently, MSU Denver is the highest seeded team in the region out of the RMAC at three, followed by Colorado Mines in sixth and Regis in 10^th. Angelo State out of the Lone Star is the top seed in this week's poll.

The Lady Mustangs went 1-1 on the road last week and will look to defeat both Fort Lewis and Adams State for the second time this season. WNMU bested Fort Lewis, 3-2, back on Oct. 10 and then came away with a 3-1 win over Adams State on Oct. 9.

Leeta Grap (Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) continues to power the offense as she went over 300 kills on the season this past weekend and now has 311 on the year and averages 3.75 per set. She has also added 254 digs, second-best on the team and 23 blocks. Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom) is second in kills with 162, followed by Heather Verrill (Barstow, CA/Barstow ) with 157, Sheila Menezes (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Escola Estadual Prof. Antonio Ablas Filho) with 126 and Kelli McGhiey (Pearl City, HI/Sacred Hearts Academy ) with 107. Melanie Hughes (Riverside, CA/Martin Luther King Jr.) has dished out 523 assists (7.69 per set) and also leads in service aces with 25. On defense, Ashley Mataele (Laie, HI/Kahuku) leads in digs with 365 (4.40 per set) and in blocking Verrill has 76 and Rich with 75.

In terms of individually rankings in the conference several are in the top-10 in many categories. Grap is third in both attacks per set (10.42) and kills per set (3.75), fourth in both total attacks (865), total kills and points per set (3.75). She ranks in the top-100 nationally in each of those categories as well landing in the top-50 in kills per set at 48. Hughes is fourth in aces per set (0.37) and 10^th in assists per set. Mataele is seventh in digs per set (4.40) and eighth in total digs. Verrill is sixth in blocks per set (0.92) and seventh in hitting percentage (.291), while Rich is eighth in blocks per set (0.90) and 10^th in hitting percentage (.283). They also come in sixth and seventh in total blocks.

As a team, WNMU is in the top-five in the RMAC in digs per set (16.71) currently second, hitting percentage (.195) currently fourth, match win-loss percentage (.696) currently second, opposition hitting percentage (.136) currently first, team attacks per set (37.37) currently third and team digs (1,387) currently fifth. WNMU is 30^th nationally in opposition hitting percentage and 58^th in team attacks per set.

WNMU will open the weekend on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks are 5-18 overall and 2-13 in the RMAC. They have one win each this season at home and on the road in RMAC play defeating New Mexico Highlands on the road and beating Westminster at home. FLC came close to upsetting the Lady Mustangs in Silver City in their last meeting pushing WNMU to a fifth set. Matisse Monty leads with 231 kills and Delaney Scanlan has 428 assists to lead the team. On defense Monty also leads in that category with 453 and in blocking, Maddie LeBlanc has 58.

The Lady Mustangs will finish the trip on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Adams State. The Grizzlies are currently in a tight battle for the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament currently tied with CSU-Pueblo and Colorado Christian for eighth. Adams State is 8-15 overall and 7-8 in the RMAC and have lost two straight. They are 3-3 at home this season with their biggest win coming against Colorado Mesa in five sets.
Mallory Grimsrud leads the team in kills with 227, followed closely by Alex Parker's 224. Katelyn Schwartz leads in assists with 571, while on defense Gabrielle Timmen has a team-high 243 digs and Savannah Smith adds 207 and in blocking Grimsrud has 60.

Live video and stats will be available for both matches, will the game at Adams State will also feature audio.