Box Score DENVER - No. 15 Regis University held off a furious comeback from No. 23 Metro State, winning 25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-27, 16-14 at home on Tuesday night in a battle of top-25 teams. The Roadrunners fell to 14-8 overall and 9-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Rangers improved to 18-6 and 12-2.

Metro State's middle attack had its breakout night as Daleah Whitaker (Denver/Lakewood H.S.) put down a career-high 16 kills and hit .458 (16-5-24), while Audri Marrs (Parker, Colo./Chaparral H.S.) contributed 11 kills and a .714 hitting percentage (.11-1-14), a career high. Whitaker's previous career high was nine kills.

Freshman Kylie Haun (Simpsonville, S.C./Hillcrest H.S.) got hot from the outside with 15 kills and added three service aces. Junior Alysa Heath (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield H.S.) had 13 kills and hit .235 (13-5-34).

Vanessa Gemignani (Colorado Springs/Doherty H.S.) enjoyed a career night at the setter position with a career-best 57 assists, helping MSU hit .261. She also had 11 digs, her third straight match over 10 digs.

Alex Green (Peoria, Ariz./Cactus H.S.) provided 17 digs and Savannah Garcia (Platteville, Colo./Valley H.S.) matched Gemignani with 11.

A rough night at the service line cost Metro as the Roadrunners had 17 service errors with just five aces, while allowing the Rangers 10 aces. Regis was held to just a .189 hitting percentage.

After a rough first set in which MSU hit just .192, the Roadrunners rebounded with a strong start in the second. They jumped out to a 13-9 lead, but Regis rallied to tie the set at 16-16 and took its first lead at 20-19 in the middle of a five-point run that gave the Rangers a 22-19 lead as they recovered to win 25-23.

Regis hit .339 in the first two sets, but MSU came out strong defensively in the third and fourth. The Roadrunners broke 14-14 tie in the third with four straight points and used another five-point run at the end of the set to pull away. That inspired defensive effort limited Regis to a .000 hitting percentage with eight kills and eight errors in the third.

That continued in the fourth as Regis hit .088, but it took some hard-fought points to pull out the 27-25 win. MSU held a 20-17 lead and had set point at 24-22 before the Rangers scored two in a row to force extra points. A kill by Haun and a Regis attack error forced the deciding set.

The fifth set was even the entire way as neither team led by more than two points. MSU actually outhit the Rangers .273 to .263 in the fifth, but three service errors proved the difference.

Metro State will look to regroup at UC-Colorado Springs on Saturday at 5 p.m.