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Sweeping through RMAC

Metro volleyball continues to win matches in three games, defeats WNM

By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Practice makes perfect, and Metro’s volleyball team must be making the most of their time in the gym during the week, as the Roadrunners easily defeated conference foes New Mexico Highlands 3-1 and Western New Mexico 3-0 in conference play Oct. 12 and 13 at Auraria Court.

“We had amazing practices this week,” Metro outside hitter Julie Green-McFarland said. “We knew we had nothing to lose, and in our pregame pep talk, we said we needed to come out here being extra energized and to make sure we bring it to kick some butt.”

Kicking some butt is an understatement for the ’Runners as they have won 10 out of their past 13 contests. In nine of those 10 victories, Metro has swept the opposition 3-0, and head coach Debbie Hendricks has said throughout the season that her team needs more experience in four and five-game matches. Outside hitter Danielle St. Pierre believes her team has the conditioning to win games no matter if it goes three, four or five.

“We just take a win however we can get it,” St. Pierre said. “It’s good that we are winning in three (games) and our coach thought we weren’t in good enough shape to be going five games so she would work us harder. So we ran a lot of sprints last week just to make sure we were disciplined, and I really think we’re in pretty decent shape.”

In their first match against New Mexico Highlands, the match actually went four games, the first time for Metro since a 3-2 loss to Mesa State on Sept. 29. The last time Metro won a game that went four games or more was seven weeks ago on Sept. 1, when they defeated Lock Haven 3-2 at Auraria Court.

In their match against New Mexico Highlands on Friday, Metro easily took a 2-0 lead winning game one 30-23 and game two 30-20. In game two, outside hitter St. Pierre tallied seven kills helping Metro to a .316 kill percentage.

The Cowgirls posted a .275 kill percentage to take game three 30-25, while Metro could only post .167. It also looked like New Mexico Highlands would even things up in game four holding a 23-18 lead over the ’Runners. But the Cowgirls, who came into the game with only one conference win in 11 tries, showed why they reside at the bottom of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings by committing eight attack errors, giving Metro the opportunity to chip away at the lead and take the final 12 of 15 points to win the match.

Game two of the weekend set had the makings of an all-out brawl between conference favorites in Metro and Western New Mexico. The Mustangs came to Auraria Court Oct. 13 with a 10-2 RMAC record looking to end the ’Runners winning streak.

Western New Mexico, which was second in the conference in kill percentage at .212, was held to a very low .116 by Metro, and never got into an offensive rhythm. Hendricks knew this was a key factor in defeating the Mustangs, and her team worked it to perfection.

“I thought we did a great job of executing our gameplan,” Hendricks said. “We took advantage of our opportunities when we had them, and we were in system a lot.”

St. Pierre continued her great play leading the Roadrunners to a 30-26, 30-19 and 30-28 victory over the Mustangs. She contributed 11 kills while hitting an impressive .500 kill percentage. She has really raised her game to another level as the redshirt freshman has posted 44 kills and a .355 kill percentage in the five-game winning streak.

“I think I just have been working on my shots and seeing what’s open,” St. Pierre said. “Coach tells me not to be timid and to not stop swinging … just to keep swinging and to stay confident, and I have.”

The ’Runners record now stands at 12-10, 10-3 in the RMAC and they will complete their road schedule Oct. 19 and 20 with games against Regis and against CU-Colorado Springs.