Box Score

  Postgame interview with Anna Mapes

DENVER, Colo. - The No. 18 Metro State volleyball team swept Fort Lewis, 25-16, 25-16, 25-16 on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center in Denver.  The win improved the Roadrunners to 13-5 overall and 6-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season, while the Skyhawks dropped to 4-14 overall and 2-8 in the RMAC.

Setter Gabe Curtis (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) helped the Roadrunners to a strong offensive attack with 34 set assists, as the Roadrunners hit .298 (45-14-104).  The 14 attack errors were the lowest for Metro State since having just eight in a 3-0 win over Colorado Christian on Sept. 18.

Curtis moved into seventh place all-time at Metro State in assists, passing Verna Julaton (1987-88).  Curtis now has 2,715 for her career, 12 ahead of Julaton's 2,703.  Stephanie Levi (2006-07) is sixth with 2,881.

Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) led both teams with 12 kills, hitting .328 (12-3-28) in the process.  Anna Mapes (Chaska, Minn./Chaska H.S.) reached a career-high hitting percentage for the second consecutive conference match, hitting .600 with seven kills and just one error in 10 attempts.  She hit .538 (8-1-13) last Saturday against Western New Mexico.  Lisa Jones (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East H.S.) also had seven kills, followed by Curtis with six and Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) with five.

Shayne Kovach (Fruita, Colo./Fruita Monument H.S.), despite playing just the final eight points of the match, had a career-high four kills, pounding home the final four points for Metro State.

Amy Watanabe (Littleton, Colo./Heritage H.S.) reached double digits in digs for the 12th consecutive match, leading the Roadrunners with 13.

Chelsea Flaming led Fort Lewis with eight kills.

Metro State led just 11-10 in the first set, before scoring three points in a row to reach a 14-10 lead with a pair of kills by Julie Causseaux (Dumas, Texas/Dumas H.S.) surrounding an ace by Curtis.

The Skyhawks battled to keep it close at 17-15, but Greenhalgh, Mapes and Curtis each had consecutive kills to give the Roadrunners a 20-15 lead.  Following a Metro State attack error, the Roadrunners closed the set with five straight points, three coming off Fort Lewis hitting errors, as Metro State scored eight of the final nine points of the first set.  FLC hit just -.074 (5-7-27) in the first set.

The second set started similarly to the first as Metro State led just 12-11 before scoring four of the next five points to take control at 15-11.  After the Skyhawks cut the lead to 16-13, Metro State scored nine of the final 12 points in set two as Morley and Mapes combined for five kills during the run.  The Roadrunners again had a strong defensive set, holding FLC to a -.029 (6-7-35) hitting percentage.

Each team had strong offensive outputs in the final set of the night.  Metro State hit a phenomenal .571 (17-1-28), while the Skyhawks hit .214 (11-5-28), their highest hitting percentage on the evening.  The third set was tied 7-7 when Metro State ran off five straight points and nine of the next 10 points to lead 16-8.  Jones and Greenhalgh combined for five kills during the 9-1 run.

Kovach entered the match at 21-12 and immediately put home a kill to put the Roadrunners up 22-12.  After FLC scored three points in a row, Kovach forced the sideout with her second kill of the night.  The Skyhawks got one point back at 23-16 before Kovach pounded consecutive kills to end the match.  She entered the night with just one kill on the season and five in her career.  Kovach was perfect with four kills in four attempts on Friday.

Metro State will face Mesa State on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.  MSC is first in the RMAC West Division with a 9-1 conference record after sweeping Regis on Thursday and Colorado Christian on Friday.