Box Score

KEARNEY, Neb. - Ngoc Phan (Lone Tree, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.)'s 35 digs helped send No. 11 Metro State to a 25-13, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 win over Western New Mexico on Friday in Kearney, Neb., to send the Roadrunners into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship match on Saturday. The Roadrunners improved to 24-5 this season, while WNMU fell to 17-12.

Phan's 35 digs were a career high for a four-set match and were one shy of the school record for a four-set match set by Bri Ostler in 2007.

Three other Roadrunners were in double figures in digs as Metro State set a season-high with 92 in the match. Alex Green (Peoria, Ariz./Cactus H.S.) also had 12 digs in the back row.

Setter Darcy Schwartzman (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest H.S.) also had 12 digs and had 49 set assists, helping the Roadrunners hit .212 as a team.

Emily Greenhalgh (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) led the offense with 15 kills, followed by Julie Causseaux (Dumas, Texas/Dumas H.S.) with 13 and Bri Morley (Parker, Colo./Cherokee Trail H.S.) with 12. Morley also had 13 digs and a career-high five aces, the most for a Metro State player in over a year. Causseaux also had six digs and five blocks.

Shayne Kovach (Fruita, Colo./Fruita Monument H.S.) and Lauren Quijano (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore H.S.) each had nine kills.

Metro State opened the match on fire, hitting .441 in the first set and going on a run of eight points that led to a 14-4 lead.

The Roadrunners trailed 8-5 in the second, but scored 11 of the next 12, including seven in a row, for a 16-9 lead.  The Mustangs fought off set point five times before Greenhalgh put down a kill for the 2-0 lead in the match.

Metro State fell behind 17-9 in the third and could not recover, hitting just .044 in the set.

WNMU opened the fourth with a 6-3 lead, but Metro State scored went on a pair of four-point runs around a side-out for an 11-7 lead.  The Mustangs rallied to lead 15-14 and again at 23-22.  But Schwartzman, Quijano and Morley finished the set with three straight kills to send the Roadrunners into the championship match.

Metro State will face the winner of No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney/Adams State at 7 p.m. (CST) in Kearney.