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  Postgame video interview with Amy Watanabe

DENVER, Colo. - The No. 18 Metro State volleyball team swept New Mexico Highlands 25-9, 25-17, 25-20 on Thursday at the Auraria Event Center as Roadrunner senior Amy Watanabe (Littleton, Colo./Heritage H.S.) become the school's all-time digs leader.  Watanabe had 10 digs in the contest to lead Metro State and she now has 1,306 in her career.  She passed Chris Hines (1989-90) and Heather Hotchkiss (1988-89) on Thursday, who each finished their careers with 1,296.

The win for Metro State on Thursday improved its record to 11-4 overall and 4-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while NMHU dropped to 1-15 overall and 0-7 in the RMAC.

Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) led both teams with 12 kills, while Anna Mapes (Chaska, Minn./Chaska H.S.) poured in eight and Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) finished with six.  Gabe Curtis (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) had 26 assists and added five digs, four aces and three kills for a solid all-around performance.  Morley finished one dig shy of a double-double with nine.

The Roadrunners held Highlands to a -.107 (14-23-84) hitting percentage, the lowest for a Metro State opponent this season.  This marks the fourth time this season an opponent has had a negative hitting percentage.

Metro State hit just .183 (38-21-93), its lowest hitting percentage in a win this season.  The Roadrunners hit .211 (70-29-194) in a 3-2 win over No. 3 West Texas A&M on Sept. 5.

Metro State had a solid night in other areas with eight service aces and just five errors, and 8.0 total blocks.

The Roadrunners got off to a blazing start in the first set, leading 8-0 as Curtis started off the night with an ace the the team followed with seven more points, including four straight at one point off Cowgirl errors.

NMHU did not get consecutive points until it trailed 19-6 in the first set as the Roadrunners forced a side-out following each of the first six Cowgirl points.  After the two straight points for Highlands cut Metro State's lead to 19-8, Metro State scored six of the final seven points to take the set.  The Cowgirls hit -.240 (3-9-25) in the first set, while Metro State connected at .304 (11-4-23).

Metro State fell behind 3-1 in the second set, but answered with five straight points with Julie Causseaux (Dumas, Texas/Dumas H.S.) serving, three coming off attack errors.  With the Roadrunners leading 16-9, Highlands made things unconfortable for the Metro State faithful with four consecutive points to cut the lead to 16-13.  But the Roadrunners answered with four in a row of their own to prompt a NMHU timeout.

Trailing 24-14, Highlands fought off set point three times before Curtis put it away on a setter dump.  Again, Highlands was in the negative, hitting -.138 (4-8-29) in the second set, but Metro State hit just .097 (12-9-31), its lowest in any of the three sets on Thursday.

Watanabe entered the third set with just three digs on the night and she needed eight total to tie the record.  A stronger offensive output from the Cowgirls helped the Metro State libero get seven in the final set as NMHU hit .033 (7-6-30).

The Roadrunners struggled throughout much of the third set and trailed 14-10.  But a kill by Morley sparked a 3-0 run to get Metro State back to 14-13.  The Roadrunners tied it at 15-15 and took their first lead of the set at 19-18 in the middle of a 4-0 run.  Metro State closed the set by scoring eight of the final 10 points.

Metro State will host Western New Mexico at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center.  Friday night will be "Dig for the Cure" night as a benefit for the fight against breast cancer.  For more information, visit the following link.