Kearney, Neb. – Regis Volleyball had their nine-match win streak snapped Tuesday night, falling in four sets to the nation's ninth-ranked University of Nebraska Kearney Lopers in Kearney. The non-conference loss dropped the Rangers to 14-2 on the season, while UNK advanced to 16-2.
 
How It Happened: The home Kearney squad came out with guns blazing Tuesday night, erupting for 18 kills and only one error in a .472 set-one attack clip. The Lopers' high-powered offense propelled them to an early 7-3 lead in the opener. Though RU battled early, pulling to within three at 10-7, a pair of late Kearney runs ensured a lopsided first-set victory (25-16).
 
Regis turned things around in the second, using a defense anchored by RMAC Defensive Player of the Week Nikki Kennedy to slow down UNK's potent attack. On their way to a 25-20 set win, the Rangers tallied five blocks at the net.
 
With the game-two score knotted at 19, Regis used a pair of kills and a pair of Kennedy blocks to go up 23-19. Critical Kearney errors in the set's final moments assured the win for the visiting Rangers.
 
The opening set featured two teams battling point-for-point, exchanging leads and putting 14 ties on the WC scoreboard. It wasn't until the set's final points that the scales finally tipped in Regis' favor – a Nikki Kennedy kill gave the Rangers a 25-24 advantage, and an ensuing Griffin attack error assured the Regis win.
 
The squads traded points for much of the third, struggling for the advantage until a six-point Loper run moved the score to 23-14. Facing a loss, the Rangers dug deep, rattling off nine of the final 11 points. Unfortunately, their effort proved to be too little, too late – UNK held off RU's run in an eventual 25-23 Loper win.
 
Though the final-set score appeared close midway through, all but one of Regis' first seven points came off a Kearney error. Holding on to a 10-7 lead, the Lopers cleaned things up, eventually erupting for eight-straight points to go up 20-10. It was a deficit that proved too hard to overcome for the tenth-ranked Rangers. UNK won the final frame 25-20.  
 
Match Notes: Nikki Kennedy and Caitlyn Burroway combined for 24 kills, but the Rangers struggled to match Kearney's high-octane attack. The Lopers totaled 62 kills compared to 45 from the Rangers. It was an uncharacteristic showing for the Regis squad, who managed a season-low .144 kill percentage and a season-high 25 attack errors in the loss.
 
Kennedy led all players with seven blocks and Caitlyn Martinez added five to help the Rangers out-block UNK 11-9.
 
Next Up For The Rangers: Regis returns to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with a Friday night home match against South Dakota Mines. The contest will be the Rangers' first at home since September 16. RU will wrap the week against Black Hills State Saturday at 5 pm.