MARSHALL, Minn. - No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) topped No. 13 Metro State 19-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-14 on Friday evening in the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament in Marshall, Minn.  The loss ended the Roadrunners' season at 25-7, while CU improved to 28-4.

Metro State fell to 1-13 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

The Golden Bears responded after dropping the first set to hit over .400 in each of the final three sets, including .485 in the fourth.  The Roadrunners tied a season-high with eight serve-receive errors.  Offensively, they still managed to hit .238, but allowed the Golden Bears to hit .386, the first time this season an opponent hit over .300.

Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) led Metro State again with 13 kills and Lisa Jones (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East H.S.) and Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) each had 11.  Anna Mapes (Chaska, Minn./Chaska H.S.) added eight kills.

Defensively, Ngoc Phan (Lone Tree, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) had 19 digs.  Darcy Schwartzman (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest H.S.) had nine digs and also set 44 assists.

All-America middle blocker Emily Palkert led CU with 17 kills and hit .406 (17-4-32).

Tied 10-10 in the first set, Metro State scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 20-12 lead.  Concordia committed 10 errors in the first set.  Conversely, Metro State hit .393.

The Roadrunners started the second set strong with a 6-3 lead, but CU battled back to a 7-7 tie.  After scoring six of seven points, the Golden Bears led 19-13 to take control of the set and won 25-14.  Metro State hit just .097 in the second.

CU led 7-4 early in the third set, but a five-point run gave the Roadrunners a 9-7 lead.  CU took the lead back in the middle of the set, but a four-point run put Metro State in front 18-17.  Two Concordia points following a timeout gave CU a 19-18 lead and Metro State would not lead again in the third.  Tied 22-22, an attack error on the Roadrunners an a pair of Palkert kills ended the set at 25-22.

Metro State managed not to give up more than four-point run in the fourth set, but the Golden Bears controlled play after a 6-6 tie.  Concordia had a 78 percent sideout percentage, compared to just 43 percent for the Roadrunners.

This was the second straight 25-win season for the Roadrunners and the fifth in Head Coach #Debbie Hendricks#' 11th year at Metro State. They have topped the 20-win mark in nine of those years.

Metro State says goodbye to just two seniors in Jones and Mapes.  Jones finished her career ranked fourth in school history in block assists (285), fifth in attack percentage (.247), sixth in sets played (460), eighth in total blocks (317) and ninth in service aces (140).  Mapes would rank as the school's all-time leader in hitting percentage (.381), but did not finish her career with enough attempts to qualify.