San Angelo, Texas- The Metropolitan State University of Denver volleyball team (27-4, 18-0 RMAC) beat Tarleton State University (27-6, 16-4 Lonestar) in a thrilling four set match on Friday, December 2 in the second round of the NCAA DII Tournament South Central Region.

The Roadrunners and Texans battled it out in the first set, with five lead changes and eight ties between the two teams. MSU Denver managed to outswing Tarleton State .111 to .029, but ended up dropping the set 20-25. The Roadrunners were led by sophomore Santaisha Sturges (Parker, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) who hit at a clip of .467 while senior Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) also put up six digs.

MSU Denver got an early lead on the Texans at 14-10 with the help of senior Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) and junior Ryan Hoerdemann (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe H.S.) who each totaled six kills by the end of the set. Tarleton State closed the gap to 24-22, forcing a timeout by MSU Denver head coach, Jenny Glenn. But, the Roadrunners pulled off game two 25-22.

The No. 2 seeded MSU Denver jumped to an early 7-3 lead on the Texans and dominated the entire set. The Roadrunners proved to be too much for Tarleton State as they decisively ended the third set 25-16. Senior Brandi Torr (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva H.S.) tallied 36 assists going into the fourth set. Sturges continued to lead the Roadrunners with a .419 hitting percentage.

 MSU Denver was slow to start in set four, as the Texans gained an early 8-4 lead, but Roadrunners fought back to take the lead at 10-9. After battling throughout the entire set, the Roadrunners pulled through to advance to the South Central Region Championship for the first time since 2009.

MSU Denver advances to the South Central Region Championship against the winner of the Semifinal Match 2 winner on Saturday, December 3 at 3 p.m. CT.