DENVER – MSU Denver's bid for a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament championship in volleyball resulted in a frustratingly similar match with Colorado School of Mines.
 
Even though the Roadrunners had four set points in the opening frame and three more in the fourth, Mines rallied for a 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-22, 26-24) victory Saturday night at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"Tonight wasn't our best night, but hats off to Colorado School of Mines, I thought they played a complete match," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "They never gave in. Props to them, and hopefully we live for another day."
 
While fourth-seeded Mines (23-6) earned the RMAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament, the Roadrunners (23-7) must wait until Monday's 5:30 p.m. selection show to find out if they will receive one of six at-large berths and advance to the NCAAs for the 20^th straight season.
 
MSU Denver was ranked eighth in the region prior to the RMAC Tournament, and earned a second win over ninth-ranked Dixie State in the semifinals. Considering the results of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, in which only one team outside the regional top 10 advanced to the semifinals, the Roadrunners' situation seems relatively solid.
 
But you never know.
 
"We didn't do what we needed to do to be super comfortable," Glenn said. "We didn't take it into our own hands by winning. So we'll wait and see what the committee has for us on Monday."
 
Saturday's final was set to be played at Regis, which had earned the right to host the semifinals and finals as the tournament's top seed. Mines knocked off the national No. 5 Rangers in Friday's semifinals, and then – due to a gas leak at the Regis Field House – the final was shifted to MSU Denver on Saturday.
 
MSU Denver earned the right to host as the highest remaining seed (the Roadrunners were second and Mines was fourth).
 
MSU Denver played extremely well early, jumping out to leads of 16-9, 18-10 and 21-14, but the Orediggers were able to pull out the first set – similar to how they fought off five set points to win the opener in the regular-season meeting, which Mines eventually won in five sets.
 
"A similar situation happened to us the first time we played them," Glenn said. "We have to reflect on the fact that we were in the driver's seat most of that first set and when it came to the end we just didn't finish it off. We've got to figure out what that is for us.
 
"We haven't been in a lot of tight sets this year and we're a little inexperienced in that area, but we've got to figure out ways to finish it off when we have it in our hands like we did multiple times tonight."
 
But the Roadrunners bounced back and won the second set with relative ease.
 
"This team doesn't give in very easily," Glenn said. "We battled back through the course of the match until the very end. It was definitely a tight battle the entire four sets, a really close match between two good teams. I don't think we made it easy on them by any stretch of the imagination, but we didn't take our opportunities when we had them in front of us."
 
After playing from behind for most of the third set, MSU Denver rallied to take a 22-21 lead. But the Orediggers scored the final four points.
 
In the fourth set, MSU Denver was in charge for the majority of the set, building leads several four-point leads – the last at 14-10 – and still holding on to a 20-18 advantage. Mines scored the next three points to lead 21-20, but the Roadrunners answered with a four-point run to force three set points at 24-21.
 
But then Mines rallied and scored the final five points of the match.
 
"They did what they needed to do to win tonight, and we didn't," Glenn said. "We had multiple set points. All we had to do was finish them off, and we didn't. That's the truth of the evening.
 
"We're going to reflect on that and figure out ways to get better in that piece of the game. I trust this team and its intent to win. We just have to grind and get better even though it's late in November. We'll get back in the gym, figure some things out and be more prepared for that situation in the future."
 
All-tournament selections Kayla White and Rylee Hladky led MSU Denver with 12 kills each on Saturday. White added five block assists and 18 digs, while Hladky had two service aces.
 
Meanwhile, Alyssa Kelling had 10 kills on .588 hitting and added five block assists, while Ember Canty matched a career high with eight block assists while also hitting .429 with six kills.
 
MSU Denver, 10^th nationally in blocks per set, had a whopping 13 Saturday.
 
"Alyssa was a beast in there, and Ember Canty was, too," Glenn said. "Our pins did a nice job as well. The issue wasn't when it was stuffed. (Mines) did a great job on coverage and kept balls in play. When you have a team that is as offensive as they are, we have to find ways to terminate in transition. The longer the rally goes, they're eventually going to score. So we have to score before they do when we get those balls turned back."
 
That relates to how MSU Denver wants to finish off sets in the future.
"The biggest thing we've learned is to finish it when you have the ability to," White said. "When it's set point, as a team, we want to terminate the ball as soon as we can. You don't want to have any regrets."
 
Said Kelling, when asked about preparing for a potential NCAA Tournament appearance: "We have to go into this next week of practice ready to train, ready to key in on those couple of adjustments that we have to make. We had the lead in a couple of sets. We have to find ways to execute."