Kearney, Neb. – The 8th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team took control of the RMAC's East Division with wins over Regis (-18, -16, -23) and No. 16 Metro State (16-25, -24, -16, -20) this weekend in Denver.

UNK (15-1, 6-0 RMAC) now has a match lead over the Rangers (7-7, 5-1 RMAC) in the East with Metro (10-4, 3-3 RMAC) slipping into a third place tie with two other schools.

On Friday against a Rangers team that had won five in a row, UNK hit .345 and got 17 kills from senior outside Erica Burson to beat Regis for the 22nd straight time (dating back to 1999). The Lopers trailed just two times and recorded 23 more kills then the Rangers.

Burson hit .616 to reach her kill total while fellow outside Chelsie Carson supplied 11kills. In the middle, Broken Bow senior Nikki Scott had 13 kills and hit .526. Defensively, Iowa junior Katlyn Heiserman had a match-high 16 digs.

On Saturday afternoon, UNK came out a bit sluggish, dropping the first set by nine points as the Roadrunners hit .444 (15-3-27).

The match turned late in the second set when the Lopers found themselves down 24-23. Back-to-back kills by Burson got UNK to set point and then Beatrice senior Shannon Clausen recorded a kill of her own to tie the match at one.

The Lopers were then in control the next two sets as they smashed home 32 kills and held Metro below a .200 attack percentage. On the day, Burson had a match-high 18 kills; she also had three blocks, two of the solo variety. Carson added 14 kills and three stuffs with Scott at 11 kills and give blocks.

Finally, Heiserman (18) and senior Kelli Wemhoff (12) had double digit dig totals.

After a 4-0 road trip, UNK has three home matches in three days next week, beginning with CSU-Pueblo on Thursday night.