GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - No. 8 Colorado Mesa held off No. 22 Metropolitan State University of Denver 25-17, 25-23, 25-23 to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament championship on Saturday night in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Mavericks improved to 27-3 overall and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while MSU Denver dropped to 23-6.
 
Lauren Quijano (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore H.S.) 11 kills to lead the Roadrunners offensively and Kylee Hoagland (Mead, Colo./Skyline H.S.) and Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) each had 10 as setter Brandi Torr (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva H.S.) spread out 36 assists evenly.
 
Savannah Garcia (Platteville, Colo./Valley H.S.) had 14 digs, while Kylie Haun (Simpsonville, S.C./Hillcrest H.S.) added 11 and Jackie Lopez (Encino, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) provided 10.
 
CMU hit .270 in the match and had six aces.
 
The Mavericks came out strong, taking the first set 25-17 and taking advantage of a home crowd of 1,631.
 
MSU Denver settled down in the second and third sets, which were back-and-forth much of the way. CMU overcame a 15-10 deficit in the second set with six straight points to lead 16-15. The Roadrunners battled back to hold a 21-19 lead, but CMU scored the next two points and MSU Denver held its final lead at 22-21.
 
Neither team led by more than three points in the third set. MSU Denver's last lead of the night was 16-15 and the Mavericks used a three-point run shortly after to build a 20-17 lead.
 
Quijano, Hoagland and Garcia were all named to the all-tournament team.

MSU Denver will find out its opponent at the NCAA tournament on Sunday during the selection show at http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2014/1841&date=2014/11/16 at 8 p.m.