DURANGO, Colo. – Down two sets to one? No problem. Down 4-1 in the fifth on the road? Piece of cake.
 
The Cowgirls ended the deciding set on a 14-6 run to help complete the rally as New Mexico Highlands (8-11, 3-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) defeated Fort Lewis (5-12, 2-7 RMAC) in five sets, 25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-11 Friday night in Durango, Colorado.
 
The match was almost as even as could be as both teams had 90 points heading to the fifth set. Highlands narrowly outhit Fort Lewis .156-.146.
 
Three different players had double-digit kills. Senior Alicia Moreno – who completed the double-double with 19 digs – led the team with 14 kills. Freshman Tianna Matthews hit a blazing .421 with 11 kills and 19 attacks and three errors. Freshman Kristin Woody hit .471 with 10 kills on 17 attacks with two errors.
 
Trailing 2-1 after three sets, the Cowgirls went to work and outhit Fort Lewis .294-.147 in the fourth. Highlands raced out to a 7-4 lead in the frame and scored five unanswered points to go up by eight. Three attack errors by Fort Lewis, a kill by Moreno and an ace by freshman Riley Smith put the Cowgirls up eight. The lead ballooned to as much as 10 before Highlands closed off the set on a kill from Woody.
 
The Cowgirls registered the first point in the sudden-death set, but Fort Lewis responded by scoring the next five points. Handy Hargrove recorded her only blocks of the match for the Skyhawks and Madi Bickle – who had 11 kills and seven blocks – had an ace.
 
Highlands responded with a 10-1 run to turn a four-point deficit into a five-point lead. Schulz had two kills and a block, coupled with a Moreno ace, tied the set. Following sideouts by both teams, senior Jessica Piper went on a critical service run to push the Highlands advantage to 11-6. Woody etched a pair of kills to push Highlands ahead 7-6. After three Fort Lewis errors, a Matthews kill capped the 6-0 run for the Cowgirls.
 
Down 14-9, Fort Lewis was able to salvage a pair of match points, but Moreno finished off the match as Highlands won the final set by four. The Cowgirls outhit the Skyhawks .250-.000 and 10-3 in kills in the deciding frame.
 
Set one was tied at 21 before Highlands closed the set on a 4-1 spurt. Woody and freshman Talise Babbitt had kills around a home team error. Fort Lewis fought off a set point, but Woody finished off the set with a kill. 
 
Matthews went 5-for-6 in attack attempts with no errors in the first set alone to help the visitors take set one.
 
Fort Lewis took the next two sets to set up Highlands must-win set four and five.
 
The Cowgirls return to action Saturday (Oct. 11) in Grand Junction, Colorado, against #17 Colorado Mesa. First serve is set for 5 p.m.