Metro surges into RMAC postseason
By Jennifer Hankins
jhankin4@mscd.edu
The odds are usually against a team away from home, but not for Metro women's volleyball. The women kept their scoring high and their opponents' points low during last week's game against Colorado Christian and took advantage of a home game against Chadron State.
Photo by Matthew Jonas jonasm@mscd.edu
Roadrunners' outside hitter, Julie Green, jumps to block the spike from Chadron State setter, Hillary Morrison, at the Auraria Event Center Nov. 5. Metro swept the match against Chadron, winning the first three games 30-17, 30-15 and 30-19. The win capped off the Roadrunners' regular season. Metro begins the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed on Friday, Nov. 11, in Kearney, Neb. The 'Runners are No. 2 in the NCAA Division II Southwest Region.
In the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match against Colorado Christian on Nov. 2, Metro held strong with scores of 30-19, 30-18, and 30-24. Stefanie Allison and Sheena Bohannon individually tallied double-digit kills.
Allison had 14 kills, while Bohannon had 12 and a .400 hitting percentage. Another key player Wednesday evening was Sheena McLaughlin, who came ahead with a match-high 19 digs while Renee Hazlewood had three blocks at the Cougar Event Center in Lakewood.
The 'Runners hit .366 in the opening game with 20 kills and just five errors. Metro had 13 total blocks.
Back home, at the Auraria Event Center on Nov. 4, Metro held the scores even lower than two nights prior against Colorado Christian. Facing Chadron State, the 'Runners made the game look easy. Metro held the Eagles to scores of 30-17, 30-15 and 30-19 on Friday evening in an RMAC women's volleyball match, their final regular-season home game.
Allison had a match-high of 21 kills and posted a .500 attack percentage. Bohannon and Julie Green added eight kills for the 'Runners while McLaughlin, once again, pulled through with 14 digs.
"It is one thing to have 21 kills, and another thing to do it while hitting .500," said head coach Debbie Hendricks. "We didn't make a lot of errors and we kept things clean."
In game one, Metro hit .318. The 'Runners jumped ahead early with a 7-1 lead before their opponents took a time-out. Before the Eagles could take another time-out, Metro stretched it to a 19-9 lead and finished strong, winning the game 30-17.
In game two, Metro hit .417. Leading just 7-6 in the beginning of the second game, the women finally picked things up to a better speed to score four straight points to force a time-out on Chadron State. The Eagles cut the lead to 14-12 just before the 'Runners jumped back ahead to 19-12, scoring the next five straight points. Metro led 23-15 then scored seven straight points to close out the game 30-15. Allison scored 10 of her 21 kills in game two.
"We met as a team this week and talked about what we wanted to accomplish for the rest of the year," said Hendricks. "How we played tonight reflected that talk."
The Roadrunners improve to 19-7 overall, 15-4 in the RMAC. Metro will take part in the RMAC Tournament Nov. 11-13 in Kearney, Neb.