COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs and MSU Denver tied 16 times and exchanged the lead nine times through the first two sets, but the Mountain Lions finished on the short end of a 3-0 match to the Roadrunners at the Gallogly Events Center. MSU Denver (12-3, 7-0 RMAC) took the match with 25-23, 25-22 and 25-14 scores against UCCS (8-7, 3-4 RMAC).

The Mountain Lions led 15-14 in the first set after a 5-1 run, and after MSU Denver answered to retake an 18-17 lead, UCCS scored four of the next five points and built a two-point advantage at 21-19. The Roadrunners rallied with two kills, a block and a service ace, and capitalized on two Mountain Lion errors, to take the first set 25-23.

The second set featured a series of extended runs by each team, with UCCS taking the first run to build an 11-5 lead against MSU Denver. The Roadrunners scored the next nine points for a 14-11 advantage, but the Mountain Lions answered with an 8-3 rally to retake the lead at 19-17. MSU Denver put together its own 8-3 run to close out the set and took a 2-0 match lead on a 25-22 decision.

The Roadrunners built the 11-5 lead in the third set and UCCS answered to pull within two points at 12-10. The Mountain Lions would struggle the rest of the set and would only score four points the rest of the night as MSU Denver hit .536 in the final set to claim the match on a 25-14 set score.

Lauren Brown and Alyssa Brinton both led UCCS with nine kills each, while Brown led the Mountain Lion blocking with two blocks. Morgan Evans finished with 30 assists along with four kills, and Natasha Habert added 12 digs on the back row.

UCCS will be on the road for the next three matches and will start with a 6 p.m., Friday match at Westminster. It will be the only match of the weekend for the Mountain Lions against the Griffins (2-13, 0-6 RMAC).