DENVER – It wasn't the most reassuring first set that MSU Denver has ever played.
 
But the Roadrunners followed it up with three of their most convincing sets of the season Saturday night and sailed to a 3-1 (26-28, 25-14, 25-12, 25-14) victory over the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
 
It was a ultimately a big confidence boost for a team that had won the first set Friday against Colorado School of Mines when it had a chance to play for a share of first place in the conference, but then dropped the final three sets and slid all the way to fifth.
 
"We maybe had a little bit of a hangover in that first set," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "But we battled through it. And then we were able to stay in control of the match from that point on."
 
In control indeed.
 
MSU Denver (15-7 overall, 11-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) outscored a solid Mountain Lions team 75-40 the rest of the way. Even while posting five consecutive sweeps against teams primarily in the lower half of the league standings prior to the Mines loss, no team had scored so few points against MSU Denver over three sets.
 
"We really wanted to prove ourselves today," outside hitter Santaisha Sturges (Parker, Colo./Regis Jesuit) said. "Our goal was to be back on track and play (MSU Denver) volleyball."
 
Which, in this case, meant a little bit of everything.
 
The Roadrunners hit .286 in the second set, but they were just getting warmed up.
 
They drilled five service aces in the third set and finished with eight – matching their third-highest total of the season.
 
"We served really well tonight," Glenn said. "We were aggressive."
 
And then they had a block party in the fourth set, with seven, contributing to -.103 hitting for the Mountain Lions in the frame.
 
Only four teams this year – and they have a combined record of 24-64 – have hit worse against MSU Denver than the .061 hitting percentage turned in by UCCS (11-12, 9-6).
 
"We started off kind of slow, but coming into the second set we changed our mindset and we were ready to go," Sturges said.
 
Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View) had 15 kills. Sturges had 14 kills and 19 digs, surpassing Duryea for the team lead with  eight double-doubles this season. Sturges, who hit .306, also matched a career-best with three service aces.
 
Alyssa Kelling (Merton, Wis./Arrowhead) had seven kills and seven blocks. Kayla White (Montgomery, Ala./Montgomery Academy) had seven kills and a career-high five blocks, including a career-best three solo blocks.
 
The Roadrunners matched a season-high with 13 total blocks.
 
"We've been working on that a lot," White said of the Roadrunners' blocking efforts. "As a right-side (hitter), it's really important. But we all made it our goal to shut down their outsides."
 
Jessa Megenhardt (Berthoud, Colo./Berthoud) set a career-high 32 assists. Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) had back-to-back service aces in the pivotal third set.
 
So all's well that ended well, even with that unsettling first set.
 
"I think we were a little discombobulated," Glenn said. "It just took some time to find some rhythm and flow. It's never easy to turn around and play again after a tough night, but we battled through and got the win."