Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. - No. 7 seed Metro State (Colo.) rallied from a 2-1 deficit and won the last two sets to earn a 3-2 victory (25-20, 16-26, 16-25, 25-23, 15-13) over No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday afternoon.

MSCD now advances to the semifinals on Friday versus the winner of No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney/No. 6 Minnesota Duluth.

SMSU, which was making its sixth straight NCAA regional appearance, ends the season with a 25-8 overall record. 

SMSU bettered MSCD in kills, hitting percentage assists, digs and blocks but dealt with a struggling offense that committed 30 attack errors.

Tory Brouwer, playing her last game as a Mustang, finished with a match-high 16 kills. Devin Diedrich also had 12 kills, while Crissi Schewe added 11.

Cara Carson tied a career-high in assists, dishing out 48. She also paired that performance with 14 digs. Kenzie Niesche finished with a match-high 26 digs.

SMSU broke away from a 10-10 tie in the opening set on kills from Brouwer and Diedrich, but the advantage soon disappeared and the Mustangs found themselves trailing by four at 18-14. The Roadrunners extended that to five to close the set, using an Emily Greenhalgh kill to move ahead 1-0. MSCD was relentless at the net, tallying four blocks.

Diedrich sparked the Mustangs in the ensuing set, acing a pair of serves to put her squad up 4-1. But the sophomore wasn't done there; with her team holding a comfortable advantage, Diedrich aced another serve to give SMSU a 21-12 lead. A monster block from Carson paired with a Roadrunner attack error to close the set knotted the match at 1-1.

A 4-4 tie signaled what turned into a tear from Mary Groth. The freshman moved the Mustangs ahead with a pair of kills, followed it with a pair of blocks and added another kill to give her team a 9-4 advantage. Already on a 5-0 run, SMSU added three more unanswered points before Schewe sent a serve long. The damage, however, was done as the Mustangs rode the surge to a nine-pet set win.

A rallying Roadrunner squad was successful in holding off the Mustangs in the fourth set. The score was tied eight times, and MSCD made its way to the favorable end of the deciding lead change when it pulled ahead from a 21-21stalemate to grab a 25-23 set victory and force a fifth set.

The Roadrunners held a 12-8 lead in the fifth set before the Mustangs got to within one point at 14-13. MSCD's Lisa Jones recorded her seventh kill of the afternoon for match point.

SMSU recorded a season-high 14 blocks—eight of them coming from Groth.

Bri Morley's 11 kills and Gabe Curtis' 38 assists led MSCD.

SMSU is now 3-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament; head coach Terry Culhane is 3-6 all-time.

The Mustangs lose three seniors in Brouwer, Leah Ashburn and Sara Graf.