DENVER – Metropolitan State University of Denver had a solid opening day in the grueling Colorado Premier Challenge on Friday.
 
After a 3-1 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, the Roadrunners took the first set from defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) before eventually falling 3-1.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce had upset Concordia-St. Paul in the pool's opening match.
 
"It's a battle," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "We were playing an excellent team that kind of had a rough start to the tournament. Concordia really responded, and we responded at times as well. They just pushed back a little harder sometimes."
 
Based on tiebreakers, MSU Denver (3-3), finished second in the pool. The Roadrunners are back on the court Saturday at 9 a.m. for a match with 13th-ranked West Florida (3-3), which was also 1-1 in pool play Friday.
 
A win against West Florida would put MSU Denver in the 5 p.m. silver bracket championship. If the Roadrunners lose they would play for third place in the bracket at 2:30 p.m.
 
"This team has grown significantly in our ability to attack the match," Glenn said. "We're still getting used to positions, and I thought we found some chemistry on the court. We proved to ourselves today that we can play at a high level and beat really good teams."
  
MSU Denver 3, Texas A&M-Commerce 1
 
Fresh off upsetting second-ranked Concordia-St. Paul, Texas A&M-Commerce couldn't sustain the momentum against an MSU Denver team that took control in the third set in a 25-20, 25-27, 25-13, 25-19 victory.
 
"The win over Texas A&M-Commerce was a really important match for us, regionally," Glenn said. "We're playing significantly better volleyball than we were a week ago. I loved our competitiveness today."
 
The Roadrunners hit .345 in the third set and .232 for the match. Texas A&M-Commerce (4-2) hit .092, including .030 in the final two sets.
 
Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View) had 19 kills and hit .326 to lead MSU Denver, while Santaisha Struges added 14 kills and 14 digs. Alyssa Kelling (Merton, Wis./Arrowhead) had nine kills while hitting .389. Jessa Megenhardt (Berthoud, Colo./Berthoud) had a team-high 25 assists.
 
"We've made huge strides, even since last weekend," Duryea said. "That's exciting."
 
Jaslyn Wacker led the Lions with 11 kills, while Shelley Capron hit .438 on eight kills.
 
MSU Denver won a five-set match against Texas A&M-Commerce in last year's national tournament.
 
Set one: Duryea's kill started a three-point burst that gave MSU Denver a 10-7 lead, and then Sturges had a kill and a service ace in a 5-0 run that gave the Roadrunners an 18-11 lead. 
 
Set two: The Lions raced to a 5-1 lead, but Duryea had three kills as MSU Denver trimmed a 9-4 deficit to 10-9. The Lions scored six straight for a 19-13 lead, but then MSU Denver got within 21-20 and scored three straight points to forge a 23-23 tie. The Roadrunners fought off a set point at 24-23 and held a set point of their own at 25-24, but Texas A&M-Commerce scored the next three points to close it out. 
 
Set three: MSU Denver took control with a 5-0 run for a 10-4 lead, built the advantage to 18-7 and cruised.
 
Set four: The Roadrunners responded after falling behind 6-2, and scored four straight points for an 18-14 lead. MSU Denver finished the match on a 6-1 run that included two Duryea kills. 
 
Concordia-St. Paul 3, MSU Denver 1
 
After losing four of its first six sets of the day, Concordia-St. Paul – winners of nine of the last 11 national championships – righted itself in the second set and then hit .429 over the final two sets in winning 23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-18.
 
"They did some things that we didn't have an answer for," Glenn said. "They exposed some weaknesses, and that's great for us early in the season. They maintained their composure – they lost it a couple of times, but they got it back."
 
The second-ranked Golden Bears (4-2) earned first-place in the pool based on a 5-4 set record. MSU Denver was 4-4 in sets, while Texas A&M-Commerce was 4-5.
 
Duryea led MSU Denver with 14 kills, while Sturges had 11 kills and 13 digs and Stephanie Laraway (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) hit .318 with 10 kills. Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) had a team-best 20 digs and Morgan Weatherwax (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) set 23 assists.
 
The Roadrunners hit .175 for the match.
 
Hope Schiller had 18 kills for Concordia-St. Paul, while Brooklyn Lewis had 16 and Erin Fallert had 15 kills and 14 digs. All-American Elizabeth Mohr set 59 assists.
 
"They made significantly fewer errors and kept the pressure on us," Glenn said. "It was a back-and-forth match for a lot of it. They're tactically very smart. They know how to work a defense."
 
Set one: The Golden Bears held a lead of two or three points for most of the opening set, including at 22-19, but kills by Laraway and Alexis Benda (Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate) were part of a three-point run that tied it 22-22. The set-ending rally wound up being a 6-1 burst.
 
Set two: The Roadrunners jumped ahead 5-1, but Concordia-St. Paul rallied and took a 10-9 lead. The teams traded points until MSU Denver was able to find a bit of breathing room with an 18-16 lead. It was 19-17 Roadrunners, but back-to-back kills by Fallert punctuated a 7-1 burst for a 24-20 advantage.
 
Set three: MSU Denver led 14-13, but Concordia-St. Paul scored the next four points and kept a lead of at least two the rest of the way.
 
Set four: The Roadrunners raced to a 7-2 lead and it was still 14-11 before the Golden Bears reeled off 10 straight points to take control. 
 
"As the game went on, they figured us out and adjusted," Duryea said. "And we didn't do as well in adjusting to them."