DENVER - A spirited fightback by #18 Colorado School of Mines came up just short as #9 Regis won 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 24-26, 25-23) in the NCAA Championship Second Round on Friday.

The Orediggers end the season at 25-6. They were making their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Second Round. The Rangers (30-3) advance to the regional final to play West Texas A&M on Saturday.

Regis hit .329 for the match to Mines' .241, but had to earn the win after Mines rallied back from two sets down to nearly force a fifth. 

Lindsey Jin led Mines with 13 kills and Janice Jin had 11 to go with 11 digs. LaRose Currie paced the defense with 17 digs and Marina Hansen had a 44-assists, 11-dig double-double from setter. Kelsey Green had 17 kills for Regis as Caitlyn Burroway and Nikki Kennedy had 15 kills each, and Burroway added 16 digs.

The Rangers got up early in the first set to hit .394 and win 25-21, then cruised to a 25-16 second-set while holding Mines to .161. The Rangers then looked to close it out in the third leading 23-21, but Mines called timeout and regrouped with back-to-back kills by Janice Jin and Ellie Monarch to tie it. Burroway's kill made it match point, but Mines survived with three straight points - kills by Madeline Behr and Jin and a Burroway attack error - to win 26-24.

Neither team led by more than two points in the fourth, and it was tied as late as 22-22 after Lindsey Jin's kill. Regis answered with back-to-back kills by Kennedy and Green to force a second match point, but a block from Abby Tiesman and Hansen kept Mines alive before Caitlyn Martinez's kill to the back corner ended it at 25-23.