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DENVER - No. 12 Metro State opened the weekend with a 25-14, 25-23, 25-22 sweep over New Mexico Highlands at home on Thursday evening.  The Roadrunners improved to 15-4 overall and 7-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while NMHU fell to 8-11 and 3-7.

The Roadrunners put together an impressive offensive performance, hitting .365 as a team and having five different players with seven or more kills.  Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) led the way with nine, followed by Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) and Alysa Heath (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield H.S.) with eight and Julie Causseaux (Dumas, Texas/Dumas H.S.) and Lauren Quijano (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore H.S.) with seven.  Shayne Kovach (Fruita, Colo./Fruita Monument H.S.) also had five in just two sets.  Vanessa Gemignani (Colorado Springs/Doherty H.S.) assisted on 20 kills, a season-high for a three-set match for her, and Darcy Schwartzman (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest H.S.) had 19 assists.

Defensively, Ngoc Phan (Lone Tree, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) led the team with 12 digs.  Causseaux and Heath each assisted on three blocks.

Metro State breezed through the first set, jumping out to a 9-2 lead and leading 21-10.  The Roadrunners hit a match-high .483 in the first set.

The Roadrunners trailed for most of the second set, but rallied late.  Their largest deficit came at 18-15 when Metro State scored three straight to tie the score following a four-point run by the Cowgirls.

NMHU held its final lead at 23-22 when Metro State scored the final three points to win the set.  Kovach tied the set at 23-23 and the Roadrunners used an attack error to take a 24-23 lead.  Gemignani then scored her first kill of the season on an over ball to win the set.

The Roadrunners held a 13-9 lead in the third set, but NMHU rallied with four straight to tie the score.  Tied 15-15, Metro State pulled away with four of the next five points for a 19-16 lead after two kills by Quijano, one by Greenhalgh, and a block by Causseaux and Greenhalgh.

The Cowgirls used two attack errors by the Roadrunners to cut the lead to 21-20, but Metro State took advantage of two Highlands errors in its final four points.

Metro State will host Colorado State-Pueblo at 7 p.m. on Friday.  The match is Dig Pink Night, supporting the fight against breast cancer.