25^th-ranked Wayne State College rallied for a five-set marathon victory Friday afternoon at #3 MSU Denver in the Colorado Premier Challenge Volleyball Tournament in Denver at the Auraria Event Center.  Scores of the match were 25-22, 19-25, 11-25, 25-20 and 18-16 in the fifth set.  WSC is now 5-1 on the season while the host Roadrunners drop to 4-1.
            The first set was a back-and-forth start to the match, featuring four lead changes and seven ties.  WSC went from a 14-11 lead to trailing 22-20.  But the 'Cats used a kill from Chloe Hanel, followed by three straight MSU Denver attack errors and a kill by Mattie Kamery on set point to win 25-22.
            WSC forced 10 Roadrunner attack errors in the opening set as Hanel notched a team-high four kills followed by setter Molly Romano with three.
            Wayne State never led in the second set as the Roadrunners pulled away late for a 25-19 set win to even the match at 1-1.  Kamery had three kills for the 'Cats while Laney Kathol added two kills and two blocks.
            The third set was dominated by hot-hitting MSU Denver, who posted an astonishing .739 hitting percentage thanks to 17 kills and no errors on 23 attacks as the Roadrunners controlled the 'Cats for a 25-11 third set win.
            The Wildcats rebounded in the fourth set despite an early 3-0 deficit and used seven kills from Hanel in the set to win 25-20, forcing a fifth and deciding set. 
            The set was tied at 8-8, then WSC used a kill from Channatee Robles and service ace by Romano to take the lead for good.  The 'Cats also got aces from Robles and Reese Johnson and forced six MSU Denver attack errors to send the contest into a fifth set.
            The fifth set showcased 11 ties and three lead changes.  The host Roadrunners held early advantages of 4-1 and 5-3, but the 'Cats clawed their way back to forge numerous ties.  Knotted at 12-12, MSU Denver used a kill and ace to grab match point at 14-12.  But WSC came back with a Robles kill and a pair of Roadrunner errors to give the 'Cats match point at 15-14. 
            After MSU Denver scored twice to regain match point at 16-15, a Roadrunner service error followed by a kill from Miller gave WSC another match point at 17-16.  WSC won the contest on a bad set by the Roadrunners giving the 'Cats an 18-16 come-from behind victory.
            MSU Denver held a .275-.227 edge in hitting over the Wildcats.  The Roadrunners had 78 kills to 52 by WSC, but the 'Cats forced 29 attack errors in the contest.  Wayne State had one more block than MSU Denver 7-6 but the Roadrunners had eight service aces and 11 errors compared to Wayne State's five aces and three errors.
            Hanel recorded 18 kills to lead the Wildcats with freshman Delaney Miller adding 11.  Laney Kathol had three blocks for the 'Cats while sophomore libero Anna Borner notched a team-high 16 digs with Reese Johnson adding 12 and Robles 10.  Sophomore setter Molly Romano accounted for 39 set assists in the win.
            Wayne State will play two more matches Saturday at the Colorado Premier Challenge against opponents to be determined following Friday night's pool play.