DENVER, Colo. – For the second time in three seasons, the Regis University volleyball team (28-4) have claimed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II South Central Region Championship.
 
How It Happened: It is safe to say that revenge is best served in three sets. That is exactly what Regis was able to accomplish with a dominant three-set victory over the team, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, that knocked them out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament a couple short weeks ago. 
 
The crowds were roaring for both of the local squads who matched up for the fourth time this season. In the first two matches, the Rangers beat the Orediggers in straight sets each time, but Mines began to pick up steam at the end of the season, and beat RU in three sets in the second round of the RMAC Tournament.
 
Regis scored the first point of the match with a kill from senior Nikki Kennedy and things were underway. The opening set was controlled early on by the Rangers who jumped out to a 13-8 lead pretty quickly. After the lead ballooned to 16-11, the Orediggers called timeout. Junior Caitlyn Burroway came right back with a kill to put RU ahead by six, 17-11. It never got closer than three points for the remainder of the set and a kill by Burroway ended the set 25-18 in favor of the host.
 
Set two saw an improvement in hitting percentage for the Rangers who had a superb .303 attack percentage in honor of the location of where the South Central Regional was taking place. The hitting percentage improved to .323 with all of the attackers finding their spots. The set was closer, but RU won handily, 25-20.
 
The final set of the night really demonstrated exactly how well Regis was playing. They held the Mines attack to a .000 hitting percentage and had six blocks, 14 kills and only two attack errors. At one point in the set, the Orediggers attack was stifled at the net four or five times, keeping the ball on their side of the net, before redshirt-senior Kristen Hornung and senior Izzy Gosar got the final block with the home crowd exploding behind them. That point was the tipping point in the match and with the score at 19-12, the Rangers scored the final six points to beat the Orediggers 25-12 in the final set.
 
Game Notes: The team finished with a .337 attack percentage after closing the game with a .387 hitting percentage in the third set. Individually, Burroway finished with a team-high 13 kills, adding nine digs and four total blocks in the match. Senior Kelsey Green had another great night as she totaled eight kills and five blocks. Hornung led all players with a .615 attack percentage and chipped in with eight kills and seven blocks. Kennedy was the match-leader with eight blocks at the net while she added six kills and hit .500 for the evening. Senior setter Silvia Basso tallied 35 assists in the match where she was able to move her hitters all over the floor with undeterred success. The overall team effort put together by the team tonight was truly poetry in motion.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Following the South Central Region Championship win, the Regis University volleyball team will advance to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship next week that will be held at Metropolitan State University of Denver.  Stay tuned to www.regirangers.com and all of the social media platforms to see where the team ends up following the national re-seeding tomorrow evening.