Box Score STEPHENVILLE, Texas – History can sometimes repeat itself.
But re-living the same story twice in six days against a quality Colorado School of Mines volleyball team wasn't meant to be Thursday night for Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Similar to the teams' meeting last Friday in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament semifinals, Mines overcame multiple set points (this time five of them in the first set) and dropped the third set after taking a 2-0 lead. But this time the RMAC co-champion Orediggers hung on for a 3-1 (27-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21) victory that ended the Roadrunners' season in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament.
"Closing out sets has been a challenge for us," MSU Denver coach
Jenny Glenn said. "It was disappointing that we couldn't get that first set tonight when we felt we had momentum in our favor.
"Then it was digging out of a hole after that. Everything seemed like a struggle."
As is often the case, the team losing the previous matchup was able to take advantage of the opportunity to make changes.
"I thought they made some great adjustments and put a lot of pressure on us from the service line, got us in trouble in the passing lanes, kind of got us discombobulated in a lot of ways," Glenn said. "We didn't manage some things very well. That's a good team and we weren't quite able to overcome the pressure they put on us."
The South Central Regional's fourth-seeded Orediggers (24-5) advanced to Friday's semifinals against top-seeded host and national No. 13 Tarleton State.
Meanwhile, fifth-seeded MSU Denver's 19
thconsecutive trip to the NCAA Division II tournament was the end of an era for seniors
Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View),
Santaisha Sturges (Parker, Colo./Regis Jesuit) and
Stephanie Laraway (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood).
Duryea had 12 kills and 12 digs for her team-best 14
thdouble-double, Sturges added 10 kills, and Laraway had four kills and three blocks. But, as always, it was about more than just the numbers with that trio.
"Our three seniors love the game, and they've shown it," said
Alexis Benda (Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate), who had one of her best matches of the season with 10 kills and a match-high four blocks. "They had tremendous seasons. They've been a huge part of our program. It's going to be sad to see them go, but they are people who will never be forgotten because their passion, and their leadership, showed all the time."
Duryea worked her way to first-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and second-team all-region honors this season, while Sturges earned All-RMAC twice and was a second-team All-American last year, and Laraway was second-team All-RMAC this year for the second time after making the first team last year.
"The work they put in to make that mark on our program is incredible," setter
Morgan Weatherwax (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) said. "Their investment has been huge."
Said setter
Mikaela Kubiak (Kalamazoo, Mich./Portage Central): "They've left their legacy with what they've shown and what their work ethic was."
MSU Denver (21-10) outhit Mines .208 to .198, the first time in 22 matches this season and just the second time in 68 matches in Glenn's three years as coach that the Roadrunners have lost when compiling a better hitting percentage than their opponent.
"This team has been a great defensive team all year," Glenn said. "We've held great hitting teams to a low hitting percentage."
But it wasn't enough to overcome some rough spots.
And it wasn't quite enough to keep it going one more time for three great seniors.
"Those three have done a lot for us," Glenn said, shortly after the match. "It's an emotional locker room right now.
"They are three great players who are having a little bit of trouble seeing their season end right now. But we can't say enough about those three and the mark they've left on our program."
