BELLINGHAM, Wash.— Marianna Payne and the Central Washington University volleyball team dropped their regular season opener against Metropolitan State University in a thrilling five set match.

THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH MARIO ANDAYA
"I really like how we competed. We simply made too many errors against a good team. We will sort some things out so we can be cleaner, but we need to turn around and play a lot more efficiently tomorrow."

FIVE SET THRILLER
The Wildcats got off to a slow start in the first set trailing the Roadrunners 3-1. A series of miscues followed by a kill from Marianna Payne assisted by Tia Andaya capped off a six-point scoring run for the 'Cats giving them the 7-3 lead. The crimson and black followed it up with another three-point scoring run featuring two kills by Marianna Payne and a third from Kylee Yamashita and the 'Cats were quickly out in front 10-4. A final kill by Leanna Shymanski closed out the first set 25-22.

The 'Cats came out much slower in the second set. A kill by Tia Andaya helped cut the momentum for the Roadrunners early, but the crimson and black trailed 1-3. The 'Cats and Roadrunners continued to battle throughout the set, leading to Kayla Skipworth capping off a five-point scoring run, but the 'Cats fell just short in set two, 23-25.

With only four kills, a pair of service errors and four attack errors, the 'Cats quickly found themselves behind 9-14 in set three. Well placed kills from Marianna Payne and Ashley Kaufman helped the Wildcats climb back in it 22-18. A service error by the 'Cats and two back-to-back kills from the Roadrunners closed out the third set in favor of MSU Denver, 25-19.

Analia Vasquez and Leanna Shymanski both went back-to-back with the Roadrunners for kills and the 'Cats were holding strong 5-5 early in set four. A duo of kills by Ashley Kaufman and Leanna Shymanski gave the 'Cats their first lead since the first set, 12-11. After a quick timeout the Roadrunners quickly regained their lead, but Kylee Yamashita shut down their momentum at the net with a kill, the 'Cats trailed 19-17. The Wildcats forced three attack errors giving them a fighting chance and some life at 22-22. A few miscues and an error by the Roadrunners and the 'Cats took home set four, 25-23.

The Wildcats took the lead in the final set quickly, as a pair of aces from Kayla Skipworth and Sydney Remsburg forced the Roadrunners into a timeout, the 'Cats had jumped out in front 5-2. Back-to-back kills by Analia Vasquez and single kill from Ashley Kaufman gave the 'Cats some life, but ultimately they fell 11-15 in the final set.

Marianna Payne closed out the night with 17 kills and a .324 hitting percentage. Tia Andaya and Ashley Kaufman followed her landing 10 kills each. Kayla Skipworth landed 3 services aces, Leanna Shymanski had 7 blocks, and Hannah Stires picked up 16 digs. As a team the Wildcats had a hitting percentage of .201 and 25 errors.