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DENVER, Colo. - The No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team proved why it is the team to beat in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as it defeated No. 16 Metro State, 16-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-20 on Saturday afternoon at the Auraria Event Center.  UNK improved to 15-1 overall this season and 6-0 in the RMAC, while Metro State dropped to 10-4 overall and 3-3 in the RMAC.

Gabe Curtis (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) dished out 48 assists for Metro State, helping three players reach double figures in kills for Metro State.  Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) had 16 kills, followed by Lisa Jones (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East H.S.) with 15 and Anna Mapes (Chaska, Minn./Chaska H.S.) with 10.  Jones had a match-high hitting percentage, leading both teams at .444 (15-3-27).

Amy Watanabe (Littleton, Colo./Heritage H.S.) continued to be a force on defense, leading both teams with 19 digs.  She now has 1,296 for her career and needs eight to tie the career digs record at Metro State.  Morley earned the double-double, adding 14 digs to her strong offense performance.  Amanda Cook (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue East H.S.) and Ngoc Phan (Lone Tree, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) each had 10 digs.

Metro State came out with a very strong first set, hitting .423 (14-3-26), while holding the Lopers to a .233 (12-5-30) hitting percentage.  Morley and Jones each had four kills in the first set and each hit over .800, with Morley needing just five attempts to reach her four kills for an .800 hitting percentage.

With the score in the first set tied 4-4, Metro State built a 12-8 lead by forcing sideouts four times in a row after scoring two consecutive points.  After the Lopers scored back-to-back points to make it 12-10, the Roadrunners ran off three in a row with kill by Morley, an ace by Morley and a kill from Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) to take a 15-10 lead.

Nebraska-Kearney stayed in the match and trailed 20-16 before the Roadrunners scored the final five points of the set with Watanabe serving the final four points after a service error on UNK.  Morley capped the set with consecutive kills.

The Lopers started the second set stronger and built a 10-7 lead.  Metro State scored three of the next four points to tie the score 11-11 with the aid of two UNK attack errors.  However, Nebraska-Kearney went on a 7-2 run to lead 18-13.

Metro State answered with one of its most impressive runs of the season to get the homecoming crowd back into the match.  The Roadrunners scored the next six points to take a 19-18 lead as Curtis spread the ball around with her and three others all earning kills during the run.  But the Lopers answered right back with four in a rowto lead 22-19 following a kill by Chelsie Carson and three consecutive attack errors on Metro State.

The Roadrunners did not go away and took the lead at 24-23, running off five out of the next six points.  Curtis served for set point to allow the Roadrunners to take a 2-0 lead in the match, but UNK responded by scoring the final three points of the set with back-to-back kills by Erica Burson and set-point coming on a kill from Shannon Clausen.

Metro State actually out-hit Nebraska-Kearney in the second set, hitting .224 (19-8-49) to .205 (14-5-44).

Despite the heartbreaking finish to the second set, Metro State started the third set strong, leading 7-4 after running off four consecutive points before the Lopers took a timeout.  Following the timeout, UNK took control, scoring 13 of the next 17 points to lead 17-11 and ended up closing the set on a 21-9 run.

UNK had by far its best set in the third, hitting .421 (17-1-38).

With the Lopers leading 5-4 in the fourth set, each team traded sideouts to a 12-11 lead for Nebraska-Kearney.  UNK ended up scoring five straight points, including its sideout, to take a 16-11 lead.  Metro State trailed 18-12, but jumped right back into the contest with three consecutive points, two at the aid of attack errors.  Again, Nebraska-Kearney built a 21-16 lead, but Metro State answered with three points to cut the Loper lead to two at 21-19.  A Metro State service error helped UNK close out the set on a 4-1 run.

Nebraska-Kearney hit .276 (58-16-152) for the match.  The Roadrunners connected at a .232 (59-23-155) clip and had a season-low five service errors, but just two service aces.  Metro State also had 11.0 total blocks, its second-most this year.

Metro State will host New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico on Thursday and Friday to open up the month of October.  Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.