PUEBLO, Colo. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver volleyball team earned its 10^th win of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Friday night, picking up a road win at CSU-Pueblo in four sets (25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-21).

"I'm really proud of the team tonight for battling through a lot of adversity and coming out with a great win," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said following the match.

Despite conceding just one set to the ThunderWolves (9-12, 6-6 RMAC), the visiting Roadrunners (15-4, 10-1 RMAC) battled the home team throughout the match to come up with a gritty win.

"We found a way to win it, so that was a growth moment for our team," Glenn said.

CSU-Pueblo jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the opening stanza, but MSU Denver responded with a 15-8 run to take a 17-14 lead. MSU Denver never lost the advantage for the remainder of the set, eventually triumphing 25-20 with two of the last three points coming on service aces from junior Jessa Megenhardt.

The second set got off to a similar start as CSU-Pueblo led 6-3 early on. The Roadrunners unleashed a 9-1 run from there, taking a 13-7 lead thanks to three kills from sophomore Avaline Lai and back-to-back service aces from junior Caiden Rexius during the spurt.

It was a set made of runs, as the ThunderWolves responded with one of their own to regain the lead at 17-16. A subsequent 5-0 run from the Roadrunners made it 21-17, and they closed out the set with a 25-21 win as Lai added two more kills in the final three points. Lai had six kills in the second set alone.

CSU-Pueblo once again took an early lead in the third frame, jumping ahead 6-3. The Roadrunners were able to tie the score at six points apiece, but CSU-Pueblo regained the momentum and stole its only set victory of the match by a 25-17 score in the third.

The fourth set was neck-and-neck and tied at 13 points apiece before junior Kayla White went on a mission. Her back-to-back kills gave the Roadrunners a 15-13 lead and she added a third kill later in the midst of a 6-0 run for MSU Denver that proved to be the final nail in the coffin for CSU-Pueblo. Ahead 19-13 at that point, the Roadrunners were able to grind out a 25-21 victory in the set to seal the match.

White landed a team-leading 17 kills, her second-best total of the season, adding 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. She also had four blocks, tying a season-high. Lai hit .346 with 10 kills, while freshman Rylee Hladky had nine kills and 15 digs for MSU Denver.

Rexius led the Roadrunners with a career-high 22 digs while Joli Sadler led the team with 22 assists.

The Roadrunners hit .148 for the match and tied a season-best with 11 service aces, as four players had two aces apiece.  

The Roadrunners' service game has been a strong point all season long.

"It's definitely a strength for us," Glenn said. "We can really cause problems for our opponents when our serve is aggressive and on."

MSU Denver will look for another conference victory tomorrow evening at New Mexico Highlands. First serve is set for 5 p.m. MDT.