DENVER  The Mountaineers picked up their game in the third set, looking to rally back into the match Friday night against host and eighth-ranked Metropolitan State University Denver, but the Roadrunners held off Western Colorado's challenge to finish off a 3-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball win at the Auraria Event Center.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: MSU Denver def. Western Colorado, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22)
Records: Western 5-20 overall (2-11 RMAC), MSU Denver 20-5 (12-1)
Location: Auraria Event Center, Denver, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Western took its first lead of the match at 6-5 in the third set on a block from Seyun Park. The Roadrunners would take back the lead and were ahead 14-13 before a Park kill evened the set up and an MSU Denver attacking error elevated the Mountaineers into the lead again, 15-14.
• The Roadrunners scored the next point but Western ran off a 6-0 string to forge ahead 21-15. Park and Maggie Olson each had two kills in the run and Addison Lynn included a service ace. MSU Denver broke the string but another Olson kill pushed the Mountaineers in front 22-16.
• That would be the final Western point of the night, however, as MSU Denver rallied with nine unanswered points to fend off the Mountaineers' challenge and take the set and the match.
• Western hung with the Roadrunners through the opening third of the first set, trailing only 8-7 before Denver would break free and take the set by seven points.
• A fast Roadrunners start to the second, racing out to a 14-2 advantage, would eventually put Western in a two-set hole that it tried to recover from with its strong third-set showing.

NET NOTES

• Olson finished with a match-high 14 kills and added a service ace to contribute 15 points during Western's efforts on the night.
• Park added nine kills – and finished with a .389 attack percentage – while Kerri Carsrud knocked down seven.
• Playing in her final weekend as a Mountaineer, Elizabeth Rupprecht ended the night with a match-leading 15 digs, chipped in a pair of assists and scored one of Western's six service aces.
• Lynn and Kacee Garcia each had two of Western's six aces.
• The Mountaineers posted a .344 attack percentage in the opening set, but were unable to maintain that rate, closing at .100 in the second and .108 in the third.

UP NEXT
Western will conclude its 2023 schedule with Saturday RMAC match at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo.