DENVER, Colo. – The No. 10-ranked Northwest Missouri State University was unable to hold on to a 2-0 lead and dropped a five-set decision to the Regis University Rangers in the Silver Bracket Championship match of the 2022 Colorado Premier Challenge.
 
Regis won by set scores of 21-25, 15-25, 25-12, 25-16 and 15-11. Northwest falls to 6-2 on the year, while Regis moves to 4-4. Three of Regis's wins this year have come over ranked teams in No. 5 West Florida, No. 10 Northwest and No. 11 Central Missouri.
 
Northwest could not find an answer for a pair of middles in the Regis lineup. Regis's Amelia Davis and Nadine Burbrink carried the Rangers to the five-set win by totaling 48 kills between the two. Davis had 28 kills and hit .375, while Burbrink tallied 20 kills and hit .655.
 
Regis posted 70 total kills to 49 for Northwest.
 
Olivia Dir set a career-high with 18 kills. It is the fifth double-figure kill total of her Bearcat career. Kristen Ford led the Bearcats with 21 digs.
 
Northwest prevailed in set one, 25-21. The Bearcats enjoyed a block party by notching nine blocks to one for the Rangers. Regis committed 11 attack errors in the opening set, while Northwest made only three attack errors. The set was tied three times early before Northwest took an 8-4 lead. Regis knotted the set at 14-14 before Northwest rattled off a 4-0 run for an 18-14 advantage. Regis used a 4-1 run to trim Northwest's lead from 21-17 to 22-21. Northwest closed out the set by scoring the final three points.
 
The Bearcats pounced early in the second set with an eight-point run to take an early 8-1 lead. Northwest continued to attack as the lead grew to 15-4 before Regis called a timeout. Regis would cut the lead to seven at two different occasions but could draw no closer as Northwest closed out the set, 25-15. Northwest hit .302 with 18 kills in the second. Regis was held to a .100 hitting percentage with 10 kills and six attack errors.
 
Regis took it to Northwest in the third set. Regis hit a phenomenal .643 with 19 kills against one attack error. Northwest's offense was nearly non-existent in the set as the Bearcats posted four kills against two attack errors for a .118 hitting percentage.
 
The Rangers kept rolling in the fourth set with a .630 hitting percentage en route to a 25-16 win that evened the match at 2-2. Regis had 17 kills with no errors, while Northwest mustered a .240 hitting percentage with eight kills and two attack errors.
 
Regis continued its momentum into the fifth set by taking a commanding 7-1 lead. Northwest attempted a late rally with a 4-0 run to cut the Regis lead to 13-11. But the Rangers scored the final two points of the match to take the fifth set, 15-11.
 
The Bearcats will begin MIAA play this week with a match at Central Missouri Wednesday at 6 p.m., followed by their home debut Friday at 6 p.m. vs. Missouri Western.
 
Colorado Premier All-Tournament Team 
 MVP: Maggie Brahmer, Wayne State 
Jasmine Mulvihill, Concordia-St. Paul 
Torrey Miller, West Texas A&M 
Teagan Starkey, Concordia-St. Paul 
Rylee Hladky, MSU Denver 
Taya Beller, Wayne State 
Riley Anderson, MSU Denver 
Camila Vazquez, West Florida 
Kelsie Cada, Wayne State 
Taylor Vaneekeren, West Florida 
Rachel Walker, Wayne State 
Taytum Stow, West Texas A&M 
Payton Kirchhoefer, NW Missouri State