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'Runners volleyball struggles to measure up
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

The Metro women’s volleyball team is used to slow starts against quality opponents. Last year’s team started with a record of 4-5 before taking 17 of 19 matches heading into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship.

As in the past, the Roadrunners struggled out of the blocks, losing two of three in the Ferris State Tournament in Big Rapids, Mich. on Aug. 25 and 26. Metro was swept Friday in their first match of the season against California University of Pennsylvania. The ‘Runners came back Friday morning with a five-set win over Augustana College, but were swept later in the afternoon by Hillsdale College.

“The first couple weeks of a season are pretty much just … to see where you’re at,” head volleyball coach Debbie Hendricks said. “It’s a measuring stick for where you are and where you compare to different level teams in the country, and we’re looking at it that way.”

Metro started off strong, defeating Augustana in a match that tested both teams’ endurance coming into the season. The ’Runners were down 2-1 coming into the fourth set but swept the next two, 30-24 and 15-5.

Junior outside hitter Julie Green came up big all weekend and was crucial in Metro’s first win of the season. Green posted 22 kills and hit .462 on the attack. Senior outside hitter Stefanie Allison added 20 kills and 15 digs, and red-shirt senior middle blocker Megan Wittenberg added six blocks. Metro hit .350 in the match overall, while Augustana mustered a meager .129 attack.

“I think we got a little better flow with our defense,” Hendricks said. “The last day we were running the middle better. You want to establish the middle first so you can open up the sides.”

Green had a second solid game against Hillsdale with 18 kills and a .433 hitting percentage, but the team posted an anemic .187 attack in the sweep. Green was recognized for her efforts as she was named to the weekend’s All-Tournament team.

The Roadrunners’ attack hit rock bottom against California, when Metro’s hitting percentage dropped to .081. The ’Runners remained close in all three sets due to a poor hitting attack from California (.194), but let errors (23) and lack of kills (32) lead them to another loss.

“We are making far too many errors,” Hendricks said. “We broke down in servicing, we broke down in hitting errors, we broke down out of the system too much. It’s real fixable, but we have to recognize it first to fix it.”

The Roadrunners host the Colorado Premier Challenge Sept. 1 and 2 at the Auraria Events Center.