DENVER – The fourth ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team split its two matches on Friday at the Colorado Premiere Challenge at the Regis Field House in Denver. The Tritons defeated ninth ranked West Texas A&M 3-2 in their opening match of the day but fell to No. 24 Regis 3-1 in the nightcap.

No. 4 UMSL 3 West Texas A&M 2
UMSL (5-1) dropped a hard-fought opening set to the Lady Buffs (4-2) 25-23 but came back to win the next two sets 25-16 and 25-21. The Tritons led 17-14 midway through the fourth set but West Texas A&M scored eight of the next 11 points to grab a 22-20 lead. UMSL fought back to within one but was unable to tie the set as the Lady Buffs held on for the 25-23 victory to force a decisive fifth set.

In the final frame the Tritons raced out to a 5-1 lead but WTA&M countered with a 4-1 run of its own to pull within 6-5. UMSL answered scoring seven of the next nine points to extend its lead to 13-7 on a kill from Maggie Johnson. The Lady Buffs got back-to-back points pull within four but a Caitlin Bishop kill gave the Tritons five match points.

West Texas A&M scored four straight points to pull within 14-13 before a kill from Alayna Santel gave UMSL the 15-13 victory.

The Tritons hit .173 in the contest with 60 kills against 29 errors in 179 attempts. Santel led three players in double figures with 16 kills. Johnson added 14 kills and Brooklyn Young finished with 10 kills. Bishop handed out 55 assists and Skylar Weaver had a career-high 22 digs.

The Lady Buffs also hit .173 for the match recording 58 kills against 28 errors in 173 swings. Emma Becker had a match-high 16 kills while Camy Jones and Currie Marusak had 14 and 10 kills respectively. Blair Moreland had 19 assists and Bryli Contreras had a match-high 33 digs.

No. 24 Regis 3 UMSL 1
In the nightcap the Rangers (2-4) hit .381 in the first two sets to win by scores of 25-22 and 25-21. UMSL fought back in set three winning 25-21 to extend the match hitting .205 in the stanza while holding Regis to a .184 hitting percentage.

In the final set the Tritons held a 14-13 lead but a 6-1 run by the Rangers was too much to overcome. UMSL fought off three match points to pull within 24-23 but couldn't get over the hump as Halle Theis ended the match with her 12th kill of the contest.

The Tritons hit .192 in the contest with 52 kills against 23 errors in 151 attempts. Santel led UMSL with 14 kills while Hannah Copeland added 12 and Young finished with 10 kills. Bishop had 45 assists and 11 digs while Weaver finished with 12 digs.

The Triton defense couldn't slow down Regis' attack as it hit .321 with 57 kills against 15 errors in 131 chances. Bryn McNair finished with a match-high 18 kills and Theis and Amelia Davis had 12 kills apiece. Reagan Hickey had a match-high 55 assists and Bre Skala recoded 18 digs.

UMSL will take on Seattle Pacific in the bronze bracket semifinal on Saturday at 10 a.m. (CDT) at the Regis Field House.