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DENVER - No. 9 Metro State finished third at the Colorado Premier Challenge on Saturday after splitting two matches on the day.  The Roadrunners fell in five sets to No. 4 Washburn in the semifinals, losing 19-25, 25-21, 28-26, 21-25, 15-12, before rebounding with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-15 sweep of Cal Baptist.  Metro State is now 7-1 on the season.  Washburn went on to finish second at the tournament after getting swept by No. 1 and four-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul.

The Washburn match was a rollercoaster ride in which Metro State had the advantage in most statistical categories.  The difference came down to two blocks at the end of the match and 11 service errors by the Roadrunners.

Metro State won the first set, leading the entire way, and outhitting WU .205 to .025.

The Lady Blues came right back to take the next two sets.  They took a 19-12 lead with five straight poitns in the second and never looked back.  The third set was back-and-forth the entire way, one of the more dramatic sets in recent memory.  Neither team scored more than two consecutive points before the Roadrunners ran off three in a row to take a 21-20 lead.

WU scored the next two points to sit in the driver's seat.  But Metro State kept battling and fought off set point three times before the Lady Blues finally scored two in a row to break a 26-26 tie.

The Roadrunners responded by winning set No. 4 25-21, hitting .277 in the set.  Metro State held a comfortable lead at 23-17, but Washburn ran off four in a row to cut the lead two two before the Roadrunners finished off the set with a kill from Lauren Quijano (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore H.S.) and an attack error by the Lady Blues.

Washburn jumped out to a 9-7 lead in the deciding set.  Two Lady Blue errors tied the set at 9-9.  Metro State took its first lead since 4-3 at 11-10 after Julie Causseaux (Dumas, Texas/Dumas H.S.) came through with a pair of kills from the middle.  After a kill by Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) put Metro State ahead 12-11, WU ran off four in a row to end the match.  Points 13 and 14 both came on blocks as Washburn finished the match with a 12-10 advantage in blocks over Metro State.

Morley led all players with 17 kills, a season-high, and she also had a career-high 25 digs for a double-double.  Ngoc Phan (Lone Tree, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) also dug up 28 balls defensively, her highest total this season.  Three other Roadrunners reached double digits in kills, including Quijano with 15, Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) with 14 and Causseaux with 11.

Vanessa Gemignani (Colorado Springs/Doherty H.S.) led the team with 33 assists and Darcy Schwartzman (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest H.S.) had 27.

Metro State regrouped after the tough loss and played well all-around in the sweep over Cal Baptist.  Morley finished with a team-high 13 kills and Greenhalgh added 11 as Metro State hit .267 against CBU after connecting at just a .194 clip against Washburn.

Phan added 17 digs and Schwartzman had 24 assists.

Metro State broke a 16-16 tie in the first set with five straight points.  The Roadrunners led by just one at 18-17 in the second set when they scored three in a row to lead 21-17.  Metro State never led by more than three in the third set until Morley's kill put the Roadrunners up 22-18.

Phan, Morley and Greenhalgh were all named to the all-tournament team, the most-ever for Metro State.

Metro State opens conference play on Thursday evening at Colorado Mesa.