DENVER - Michaela Smith (Littleton, Colo./Regis Jesuit H.S.) put down a career-high 19 kills as No. 22 Metropolitan State University of Denver rallied for a 22-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12 win over Colorado Christian on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center. The Roadrunners improved to 13-3 overall and 7-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. CCU fell to 10-6 and 4-3.
 
Smith had 19 kills and hit .306, topping her previous career high of 15 kills. Lauren Quijano (Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore H.S.) added 11 kills and Kylie Haun (Simpsonville, S.C./Hillcrest H.S.) and Vasati Fiatoa (Las Vegas, Nev./Bonanza H.S.) each had 10.
 
Savannah Garcia (Platteville, Colo./Valley H.S.) had a career-high 24 digs and Haun had 10.
 
Vasati Fiatoa (Las Vegas, Nev./Bonanza H.S.) tied a career high with eight total blocks, leading the Roadrunners to a season-high 16.5 as a team.
 
Brandi Torr (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva H.S.) had 44 assists and eight digs.
 
The Roadrunners outhit the Cougars .194-to-.118 in the first set, but six errors in the service game cost them the first set, with three receiving errors and three service errors.
 
The mistakes reversed in the second set, with MSU Denver cutting its own, while forcing the Cougars into seven errors in the service game. The Roadrunners never trailed in the second set.
 
The Cougars broke away from an 11-11 tie in the third set with eight of the next nine points to lead 19-12.
 
A 5-1 start in the fourth put the Roadrunners comfortably in front as they cruised to a 25-16 win to force a deciding fifth set. MSU Denver held the Cougars to a minus-.036 hitting percentage in the fourth.
 
The Roadrunners broke a 6-6 tie in the fifth with three straight points, including back-to-back blocks. The lead stretched to 11-7 after an ace by Torr and Haun put the finishing touches on the match, rolling a shot into the middle of the CCU defense on match point.
 
MSU Denver will host Chadron State at 7 p.m. next Friday.