Grand Junction, Colo. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver suffered a 3-1 loss at Colorado Mesa on Saturday night.  The Roadrunners fall to 13-9 overall and 10-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  The Mavericks move to 12-9 overall and 10-3 in conference play.

The Roadrunners jumped out to an early lead winning the first set 25-14.  MSU Denver built a 9-7 lead before going on a 9-3 run sparked by a Ryan Hoerdemann (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe H.S.) kill.  In set two, Colorado Mesa went on a 10-4 run to close the set and defeat the Roadrunners 25-18.  The Mavericks then jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead in set three.  The Roadrunners could not overcome the deficit and fell 25-20.  The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair with the match tied at 19-19.  The Marvericks were able to score three consecutive points with the Roadrunners committing two errors over that stretch.  Colorado Mesa won the fourth set 25-22.

Junior Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) posted 15 kills in the match and tallied three service aces.  Hoerdemann was the only other Roadrunner to post double-digit kills with 13.  Junior Brandi Torr (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva H.S.) had 44 assists in the match.

The defeat snaps a 10-match winning streak for MSU Denver.  The loss is the first for the Roadrunners since a 3-1 loss to UCCS on Sept. 22. 

MSU Denver will return home to take on Colorado Mines on Wednesday, Oct. 28.  Match time is set for 7 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.