SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver volleyball team has a great Ariana Grande impression going.

The Roadrunners said "thank u, next" to Black Hills State on Friday night, dispatching their eighth consecutive opponent overall and seventh straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe. It was the fourth consecutive sweep for MSU Denver (12-3, 7-0 and first place RMAC), which has dropped just four total sets to Black Hills State (7-9, 5-3 and T-6^th RMAC) in the 13 all-time matches between the two schools.

"We did a great job handling the ups and downs of the match tonight," MSU Denver head coach Jenny Glenn said. "Black Hills puts pressure on you in different ways and we found a way to adjust and win in three."

The Roadrunners defended the opponent attack brilliantly once again on Friday evening, holding the Yellow Jackets to .099 hitting on the night. MSU Denver has limited four consecutive opponents to hitting percentages below .100, matching a streak the Roadrunners also achieved in 2018 but had not previously accomplished since at least 2001.

MSU Denver built a five-point advantage early on in the first set, but Black Hills State rebounded and tied the score at 12. The Roadrunners responded with a four-point streak to make it 16-12 and the Yellow Jackets never got within less than three points for the remainder of the set. MSU Denver then ended the frame on another four-point run to seal an opening-set victory, 25-18. Black Hills State hit a measly -.034 in the first set while MSU Denver posted a solid .296 mark.

The second set started as a back-and-forth battle, but setter Jessa Megenhardt controlled the serve as MSU Denver went on a six-point run midway through the set to make the score 15-8. The Yellow Jackets trimmed the gap on multiple occasions but could never overcome the deficit as the Roadrunners took the second set by a 25-21 count.

The next frame was tight early on at 5-5, but MSU Denver put away any of Black Hills' hopes for a fourth set with an eight-point burst to go up 13-5. The Yellow Jackets never came within less than five points after that as MSU Denver broke out the brooms with a 25-18 victory in the final frame.

Who controlled the serve for MSU Denver during that eight-point run that put the match away?

You guessed it, Megenhardt.

Ranked first in the RMAC and 25^th nationally in aces per set coming into the match, Megenhardt did what she does best again Friday evening with four more service aces in Spearfish. That raised her aces per set average to 0.57, up from her conference-leading 0.53 mark coming in.

Kayla White once again led the squad with 12 kills, but it was efficient hitting from the Roadrunners' middle blocking unit that stung the Yellow Jackets. Avaline Lai put away eight kills on .615 hitting, a season-high mark, while Alyssa Kelling notched seven kills on .500 hitting.

Kelling (.365) and Lai (.362) now rank third and fourth in the RMAC in hitting percentage, respectively, while Kelling's .414 mark in league matches is second in RMAC-only play.   

Rylee Hladky also chipped in seven kills for the Roadrunners, while Alexis Benda had six. Megenhardt and Joli Sadler platooned at setter once again, as Megenhardt led the squad with 18 assists while Sadler had 17. Libero Caiden Rexius topped the squad with 16 digs.

MSU Denver completes its South Dakota tour tomorrow afternoon with a 3 p.m. match in Rapid City, S.D., at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The Hardrockers fell to Chadron State in five sets on Friday evening to move to 7-10 and 3-5 in RMAC competition, putting them in a tie for 11^th place in the league standings.