GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – No. 3 MSU Denver's chance for a conference championship in volleyball wasn't meant to be Saturday.
 
The Roadrunners fell behind by two sets, and then No. 15 Colorado School of Mines was able to avoid a fifth set with an improbable late fourth-set rally to claim a 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 21-25, 26-24) victory in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament final.
 
True freshman setter Delaney Eckhardt, who moved played regularly for the final two sets, put the Roadrunners up 24-20 with a dump to the open floor to create set point in the fourth. But Colorado School of Mines managed to score the final six points to clinch the win.
 
"Colorado School of Mines is playing extremely well, the best they've played all year," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "And they tend to do that at tournament time. I thought we responded really well, especially in the third set when we were in control and for most of the fourth set, too. Then they had one of their better servers serving and they went on a run and we weren't able to hold them off."
 
Avaline Lai led MSU Denver (15-2) with 16 kills on .412 hitting, completing a three-match tournament run in which she averaged 3.6 kills per set while hitting .473 (40 kills, five errors, 74 attacks).
 
Kayla White added a double-double of 11 kills and 16 digs while adding three blocks (one solo), and Rylee Hladky had nine kills, two aces and 12 digs.
 
Lai and White were both named to the all-tournament team.
 
Middle blockers Mikayla McClinton (six kills, four blocks) and Ember Canty (four kills, four blocks) were steady as always.
 
And Eckhardt was clutch after entering late in the second set and finished with three service aces and two kills while setting 13 assists. Jessa Megenhardt led the Roadrunners with 23 assists.
 
"I'm proud of this group for the growth they've had in what has been a tough year in multiple ways," Glenn said. "They've put in a ton of work behind the scenes. It's fun that we'll have our crew back next year and we'll utilize this as a growth moment as we continue the journey that this group is on."
 
Colorado School of Mines, which had been the tournament's No. 5 seed before moving up when No. 4 seed Regis had to drop out, got hot at the right time. The Orediggers swept national No. 2 (and tournament No. 1 seed) Colorado Mesa in the semifinals before avenging a 3-1 first-weekend loss to the Roadrunners in the final.
 
The Orediggers hit .288 for the match – including a surprising .563 in the second set. No other team had hit better than .211 against MSU Denver all season. MSU Denver hit .195, its third-lowest total of the season.