COLORADO SPRINGS - No. 23 Metropolitan State University of Denver held on for a 25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 23-25, 15-2 win at University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Saturday evening. The final set was the most lopsided fifth-set victory in school history. The Roadrunners improved to 17-3 overall and 11-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, their best start through 20 matches since 2001. UCCS dropped to 9-12 overall and 5-7 in the RMAC.
 
Summer Greager (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian H.S.) led the offense with 15 kills and had her third consecutive double-double with 19 digs. Redshirt freshman Ryan Hoerdemann (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe H.S.) stepped into the lineup for just the fourth time all season, but had a season-high 10 kills and eight blocks. Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) added 10 kills and Abbie Noland (Martinez, Calif./Campolindo H.S.) had eight.
 
Defensively, Savannah Garcia (Platteville, Colo./Valley H.S.) led the team with 24 digs, followed by Greager's 19, Brandi Torr (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva H.S.) with 12 and Kylie Haun (Simpsonville, S.C./Hillcrest H.S.) with 11. Kylee Hoagland (Mead, Colo./Skyline H.S.) had seven block assists to help the team to 16 in the match. The strong back-row play and blocking at the net limited the Mountain Lions to just a .100 hitting percentage.
 
Torr had 44 assists.
 
The Roadrunners pulled off a dramatic comeback in the first set. After struggling through much of the frame and building a 21-14 deficit, they scored seven straight points to tie the score at 21-21 with four kills and a two blocks. MSU Denver fell behind 22-21, but scored the next four points with kills from three different players to finish a wild set.
 
The momentum continued into the second set as MSU Denver scored the first six points, giving the Roadrunners 17 of 18 points during that stretch between the end of the first and beginning of the second set. The Mountain Lions fought back to tie the set three times. MSU Denver broke a 22-22 tie with a kill from Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) and she finished the set with another kill as well.
 
Despite jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the third, the Roadrunners struggled to find a rhythm, giving up runs of seven and five points to fall behind 13-7. UCCS took the third and fourth sets after holding the Roadrunners to a combined minus-.012 hitting percentage to force the fifth set.
 
MSU Denver regrouped in the deciding set, forcing the Mountain Lions into seven attack errors with four total blocks. Noland had a team-high three kills in the fifth.
 
The two teams will meet again on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.