The collegiate volleyball season ended for Colorado State and MSU Denver after losing in the NCAA Championships to schools from the Lone Star State in their final matches. Still, Northern Colorado continues in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships.

The Mountain West Conference champions, Colorado State (20-11) dropped a 3-1 (25-20, 16-25, 29-27, 25-23) decision to Texas A&M in the first round of the Divisio I playoffs in Tempe, Ariz. READ MORE

MSU Denver (29-3), the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions, defeated Texas Woman’s and West Texas A&M in its first two Division II matches before being eliminated by regional top seeds Angelo State.

Playing in their fourth straight regional finale, the Roadrunners dropped a 3-1 decision (25-19, 27-25, 20-25, 30-28) to Angelo State. In the previous three NCAA regional finals, MSU Denver was eliminated by West Texas A&M. READ MORE

Northern Colorado (27-7) advanced to the NIVC quarterfinals with a 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 26-24, 14-25, 15-10) win at Georgia Southern.  The 27 victories are the most Division I wins in a single season for the Bears.  READ MORE

The NIVC “Great 8” is next for the Bears in Tucson, where UNC plays Arkansas State  (28-5) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a quarterfinal meeting between Arizona (21-9) and Wyoming (17-12).  The Bears will be playing Arkansas State for the first time.

Northern Colorado defeated Arizona 3-1 in an exhibition match in Greeley in August.  In previous regular season matches, Arizona holds a 3-0 edge over the Bears.  Wyoming has won 12 of 21 matches with UNC, highlighted by a 3-0 Cowgirl win last season at Greeley in the NIVC second round.  BRACKET