SALT LAKE CITY– One night after securing their spot in the top-four of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) standings, the No. 23 ranked Regis University volleyball team (20-6, 15-3 RMAC) needed only three sets to close out their regular season schedule on a high note. Regis beat Westminster College (5-23, 3-15 RMAC) 25-18, 26-24 and 25-18 on the road Saturday.
 
How It Happened: The Rangers outperformed the Griffins in many aspects of the match, but in the first set, RU recorded 15 kills to only nine for the home team. Regis largest lead of the set came at 17-9 following a block from redshirt-senior Rebecca Abrahamson and junior Mara LeGrand. The lead was matched at 18-10 after graduate student Caitlyn Burroway registered a kill. The lead was cut to four, 22-18, after WC scored four-straight points towards the late stages of the first set. That scoring run was squashed by a kill from LeGrand, and the set came to a close after junior Nadine Burbrink and Burroway put away back-to-back kills.
 
The second set was one of the more interesting sets of the match. The Rangers held big leads throughout the entirety of the set, leading by as many as eight when the score was 19-11. That is when the Griffins clawed their way back into the match. With RU holding a 22-16 lead, the home team rattled off five-consecutive points to bring the Regis advantage to just one, 21-21. Eventually, the set was tied at 24. Freshman Hannah Kepler stepped up in clutch time and recorded kills on back-to-back plays to close out the set, 26-24.
 
Now enjoying a two-set advantage, the Rangers would not settle for less than a three-set win. The beginning of the set looked much different than the previous two. Westminster opened up a 5-1 lead in the first six points of set, but that gap was closed quickly by RU who tied it up 7-7 just eight points later. Regis started to double-up on the Griffins in the scoring department. Anytime the home team scored, that was countered with multiple points scored by the Rangers. Before anyone knew it, RU had built a 24-16 lead, just one point away from a three-set sweep. The final point of the night came from Kepler who had also closed out the second set just a set earlier. Her career-high 12^th kill shut the door on the Griffins and gave Regis their 20^th win of the season.
 
Game Notes: This is the third time in four full seasons (not including COVID-19 Spring Season) that head coach Joel List has guided his team to a 20+ win season. In this match, Burroway tallied a match-high 19 kills with a .385 hitting percentage. She also had 11 digs for her 14^th double-double of the year. It is also her 14^th-consecutive match with double-digit kills. Kepler, as it was mentioned before, set a career-high with 12 kills (.348 H%) in the win. Defensively, Burroway's 11 digs led the team, but freshman Bre Skala reached double-figures with 10 digs of her own while junior Haley Kennedy chipped in with nine. Burbrink led the team with three blocks, and she also added five kills. LeGrand had another great night with her distribution of passes, collecting 41 assists (13.67 assists per set) to go along with six digs and two blocks.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: With the regular season coming to a close, the Regis University volleyball team has all but officially clinched the No. 4 seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Volleyball Tournament. As it appears tonight, the Rangers will match up with the fifth-seed in the tournament which would be the Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves. The quarterfinal matches of the tournament will be played at the home site of the top-four teams on Tuesday, November 16^th. Match times are currently To Be Determined. Please stay tuned to www.regisrangers.com and www.rmacsports.org for any and all updates on the official announcement of the RMAC Volleyball Tournament field with match times.