Box Score

GOLDEN, Colo. - The No. 14 Metro State volleyball team was upset on Friday evening by Colorado Mines in five sets, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-10 on the road in Golden, Colo.  The loss dropped the Roadrunners to 7-2 overall and 0-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Orediggers improved to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC.

CSM has now won two consecutive matches in the series with Metro State after snapping a 19-match losing streak at the RMAC Tournament last fall.

Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) led Metro State with 18 kills and also had 11 digs.  Lisa Jones (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East H.S.) added a season-high 16 kills and hit a team-high .237 (16-7-38), while Anna Mapes (Chaska, Minn./Chaska H.S.) had 13 kills, just one shy of her career high.  Amy Watanabe (Littleton, Colo./Heritage H.S.) led the Roadrunners with 23 digs and Gabe Curtis (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) had 52 assists.

CSM edged the Roadrunners in the first set by hitting .317 (16-3-41).  They jumped out to a 15-11 lead, but Metro State scored four consecutive points via kills to tie the score at 15-15.  Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the set.

The Roadrunners got off to a better start in the second set and led 17-13 at one point.  But CSM rebounded to tie the score at 21-21.  Metro State closed out the set with the aid of an attack error, a pair of kills by Morley and finished it off with a kill by Jones.

Metro State struggled offensively in the third set, hitting just .067 (13-10-45), while allowing Mines a .206 (10-3-34) hitting percentage.  The Roadrunners had four service errors, 10 hitting errors and one receiving error to account for 15 of CSM's 25 points during the third set.

Once again, the Roadrunners bounced back in the fourth set and led the remainder of the set after being tied 10-10.  Metro State had its best offensive set in the fourth, hitting .316 (16-4-38).  Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) and Mapes carried much of the load in the fourth as Greenhalgh had six kills and Mapes five.

Colorado Mines came out firing in the deciding set, jumping out to a 10-4 lead, before Metro State took a timeout.  Metro State had five unforced errors during that rough start.  Following a kill by Mapes, Mines recorded consecutive kills of its own to lead 12-5 and force another timeout.  After cutting the lead to 13-9, another service error give CSM match-point and the Orediggers converted their second match-point try to win 15-10.

Metro State made a season-high 33 attack errors in the loss and 15 more service errors.  The 33 attack errors was the most for the Roadrunners since having 36 on Aug. 29, 2008, in a 3-2 loss to Hawaii-Hilo.

Conversely, Colorado Mines had just three service errors on the evening and 23 attack errors.  The Orediggers also had 11.5 team blocks, the first time a Metro State opponent has had more than eight since Grand Valley State (Mich.) had 12.0 on Sept. 5, 2008.

Metro State will look to rebound and even its conference record on the road on Saturday at Chadron State (Neb.).  The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.