DENVER – In a big non-conference matchup against the No. 4 ranked Metropolitan State University of Denver Roadrunners (10-1, 8-1 RMAC), the No. 21 ranked Regis University Rangers (8-3, 8-1 RMAC) came out strong, but lost the final three sets of the match for their first loss in nine matches. Final scores on the evening, 25-19, 25-16, 25-21, 25-13.  
 
How It Happened: Regis opened up the first set with a big 25-19 win behind strong offensive play from senior Caitlyn Burroway and an impressive defensive effort from freshman Maddy Mallory. Sophomore Mara LeGrand had 10 assists in the opening set, which helped the offense get rolling, posting a .345 attack percentage. The Rangers collected four blocks and it was sophomore Ayala Plummer who put the first set away with a kill following a service error from MSU Denver.
 
The Roadrunners responded with a huge offensive performance in set two, as they had a .419 hitting percentage while RU was held to .148 with only nine kills. Both teams had three service errors in the second set, but MSU Denver posted seven more kills and three more blocks than Regis which led to a 25-16 win in set two to tie things up at one set apiece.
 
Set three was tightly contested with both teams fighting for the lead throughout. Burroway put the Rangers ahead 16-14 after her shot found the floor, but a 6-0 run from the Roadrunners put them back in front 20-16 late in the set, forcing a timeout from head coach, Joel List. MSU Denver's Rylee Hladky was difficult to contain as she helped capture the third set 25-21 for the home team, putting RU in 2-1 hole. Hladky had 17 kills after three sets of play, but Burroway was right on her tail with 15 of her own, only six kills shy of her career match-high of 21 kills from 2018.
 
The fourth set proved to be the last set of the evening as the No. 4 ranked MSU Denver Roadrunners overpowered Regis 25-13 to take the first meeting between these two teams in 2021.  

Head Regis Volleyball Coach, Joel List, on the match, "we came out prepared and executed well, but they were able to get us to play out of system for a large part of the match. This stopped our offense from producing, and we became very predictable. We will learn from this game and make adjustments. We will be ready to go at it on Monday."
 
Game Notes: After starting out very strong offensively in the opening set, the Rangers failed to hit better than .148 in the final three sets, hitting .148 in set two, .038 in set three and .000 in set four. Burroway finished with a team-high 16 kills and was the only RU player in double-figure kills. LeGrand had 35 assists in four sets, and sophomore libero Haley Kennedy added 22 digs in the match (5.5 digs per set). Freshman Halle Theis had nine kills and shared the team lead with three blocks, junior Rachel Siurek totaled eight kills and two blocks and Mallory finished the night with one kill and three blocks. LeGrand finished one dig short of another double-double, also tallying four kills.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The No. 21 ranked Regis University volleyball team will host their next match in just three days when the Colorado Christian University Cougars make their way to the Regis Field House for a non-conference game, rescheduled from earlier this season.