Denver- The Metropolitan State University of Denver volleyball team (25-3, 19-0 RMAC) defeated Regis University (18-11, 12-7 RMAC) in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament semifinals on Friday, November 18.
 
In the first set, number one seeded MSU Denver jumped out to an early lead but Regis battled back as the two teams exchanged leads throughout the latter part of the set. After going back and forth, Regis would prevail in the first set 25-23 despite the Roadrunners leading in hitting percentage .317 to .293. Sophomore Santaisha Sturges (Parker, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) and senior Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) each had five kills while senior Brandi Torr (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva H.S.) recorded 16 assists.
 
The second set saw Regis maintain the lead early on until MSU Denver rallied to tie it up 16-16.  From that point on, the Roadrunners went on to outscore the Rangers 9-6 to take the second set 25-22 and even the match 1-1.  MSU Denver recorded 16 kills with a .371 hitting percentage in the set with Sturges adding another six kills.
 
MSU Denver found themselves in an early hole again down 15-11 to Regis in the third set when RMAC coach of the year Jenny Glenn called a timeout. The Roadrunners rallied off the timeout narrowing the Regis lead to as little as one but the Rangers would go up 2-1 in the match after taking the third set. MSU Denver struggled offensively, hitting just .071 in the set.
 
In the fourth set, the two teams were tied at 20-20 until the Roadrunners came out of a timeout to take five straight points to force a fifth set winning 25-20. MSU Denver hit .324 in the set and recorded 15 kills.
 
The fifth set was just as close as the prior sets. MSU Denver held the advantage 8-6 at the eight-point mark. The Roadrunners were able to complete the comeback taking the fifth set 15-9.
 
Sturges finished the night with 20 kills and 10 digs while junior Ryan Hoerdemann (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe H.S.) ended the evening with 19 kills and 12 digs. Torr recorded 58 assists in the Roadrunner win and Jackie Lopez (Encino, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) helped out defensively with a team high 27 digs.
 
The No. 17 Roadrunners will host the RMAC championship match tomorrow night at 5 p.m. against the second-seeded Colorado School of Mines at the Auraria Event Center.