DENVER – MSU Denver came up short Tuesday in an intriguing regional match.
 
The Roadrunners dropped a 3-0 decision (25-19, 25-14, 27-25) in a non-conference matchup with NCAA Division II No. 9 Regis at the Auraria Event Center.
 
MSU Denver had 23 attacking errors and a total of 35 errors overall, accounting for 45 percent of Regis' points. It was the Roadrunners' second straight loss.
 
"We played a high-error match tonight, and we have to clean that up," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "That's two matches in a row where we've had a lot of errors, and that's something we'll focus on when we get back in the gym (Wednesday)."
 
MSU Denver (17-6) had defeated the Rangers (21-3) by a 3-1 count (21-25, 25-21, 25-14, 27-25) when the teams met in their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup on Sept. 27.
 
"Whenever we lose, it's something we did to ourselves," senior outside hitter Kayla White said, who had a team-high 11 kills. "Twenty-three attacking errors, that's a whole set right there. If we knock those down to say, eight, then it's anybody's game. There's a blessing in there, that we did it to ourselves, but we've got to come to play."
 
Since this match was a non-conference affair, MSU Denver still holds on to second place in the RMAC at 12-2. Regis leads the league at 14-1 and has won 12 straight matches since losing to the Roadrunners.
 
The initial South Central Regional rankings of the season are due out Wednesday and it seems probable the Regis will be among the top two. MSU Denver should also carry a solid regional ranking. (Tuesday's match won't figure into this week's set of rankings.)
 
Regis has won 29 straight sets while posting nine consecutive sweeps.
 
MSU Denver hit .025 with 12 errors in the first set and then hit -.025 in the second set on eight errors.
 
"We played pretty passively the first couple of sets," Glenn said. "We went really aggressively at them the first time at their place, and tonight they came after us, pushed us back, and we didn't respond very well."
 
But the Roadrunners started coming to life in the third set and appeared to be on the way to snapping the Rangers' streak of set victories.
 
MSU Denver led 18-14, 20-16 and 21-18 but couldn't hold on. It was the first time all season that the Roadrunners have been swept.
 
"We talked in the locker room after the second set and we said, 'We are in this together, and we are playing for each other, and we are going to enjoy this match,'" middle blocker Alyssa Kelling said. "That's is a really good team and they are fun to compete against, and we wanted to enjoy every minute of it."
 
The Roadrunners hit .348 in the set with only three errors, but couldn't quite get the momentum turned. Four of the Roadrunners' six losses have come to nationally-ranked teams, while one of their other two came to a team receiving votes for the national ratings.
 
"We broke down the game and recognized the things that we can work on and clean up," Kelling said. "It's exciting moving into the end-of-season time frame, just because we know there are things we can get better at, and that we haven't arrived. That team did a lot of great things to expose things within our team, but we also did a lot of things to ourselves. But that's good in that we know we are fully capable."
 
MSU Denver plays host to South Dakota Mines on Friday in a 7 p.m. Parents Night game, then squares off with Black Hills State on Senior Night at 5 p.m. Saturday. Both matches are at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"After a night like tonight, we just need to keep it black and white and focus on the things that cost us points tonight and fix those things," Glenn said. "That's the biggest thing, focusing on us and making sure we're getting back to a high level of volleyball."