Metro State volleyball’s dream season stepped on the gas in Sioux Falls. After the Roadrunners took down Wingate in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on Thursday, ending the Bulldogs’ 30-match win streak in a five-set thriller, Metro State won again in the Final Four on Friday. This time, the Roa drunners dominated top-seeded, previously undefeated Tampa in a straight-sets victory to advance to the program’s first-ever national championship. “You saw a team that was fearless tonight, and stepped out and played in our true identity,” Metro State head coach Jenny Glenn told reporters in South Dakota. “… I’m proud of the way we stepped on the court tonight: On mission, and our mission is to win a national championship. When we play fearless and play together, that’s what it looks like.” The Roadrunners took down Tampa 25-21, 25-19, 25-21 in a match where Metro State controlled the momentum from the opening moments. MSU Denver dominated in serves, with nine aces to Tampa’s one. Junior outside hitter Megan Hagar led the way with 12 kills, a second straight clutch performance to fill the void left by senior All-American Annika Helf’s injury in the Elite Eight. Junior setter GabriElle Brewer paced the Roadrunners with four aces and 21 assists, sophomore middle blocker Alyssa Boyte had a team-high five blocks and freshman libero Emerson Dillon had 13 digs. “Tampa’s a really good team, and we knew it was two high-powered offenses going after each other,” Glenn said. “We served tough to get them out of the system, so we had a little bit easier time on the defensive end. We didn’t have huge blocking numbers… but we slowed a lot of balls, our defense played really feisty, and then we did a great job of scoring and following our scouting report.” Metro State improved to 31-3 overall (a program record for wins) and now takes on Concordia-St. Paul for the title on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon. The Roadrunners have won 22 straight matches dating back to Oct. 3; they last played Concordia-St. Paul in 2024, a 3-2 win in Denver. By embracing the team’s mantra of “true identity,” the Roadrunners believe they are in a great spot to beat Concordia-St. Paul for the program’s first national title and the fifth national title in school history. The Roadrunners are the first RMAC volleyball team to reach the Division II championship since Nebraska Kearney in 2005, and Saturday will be the first title appearance for the school since the 2012-13 Roadrunners men’s basketball team was national runner-up. “Volleyball is a game of errors, so it’s super easy to get caught up in the fear of making errors,” junior middle blocker Kryssa Moerman, a Doherty alum, told reporters. “But with a ‘true identity,’ and embracing who you are outside of performance, it’s so important because then your confidence isn’t coming from something that can be taken away. It’s something that is steady and will be there forever, and that makes everything so freeing on the court to just go play.” “… This win (over Tampa) was good, but we’re going out tomorrow with a job to do, and we’re going to do it.” ...read more read less