DENVER – MSU Denver's do-over turned out pretty well.
The Roadrunners swept South Dakota School Mines 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-19) on Friday night, avenging the only loss they had in a 14-match stretch from Sept. 14 through Nov. 1.
"It was a good night for us," MSU Denver coach
Jenny Glenn said. "We were able to get some redemption for the first time we played them. We played solid from start to finish."
MSU Denver (18-6 overall, 13-3 and second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) also snapped a two-match losing streak with the victory on Parents Night at the Auraria Event Center.
Avaline Lai had 12 kills on .364 hitting and
Rylee Hladky had 10 kills and 13 digs. The Roadrunners were coming off losses to Colorado School of Mines and ninth-ranked Regis, teams ranked fourth and first, respectively, in the South Central Region. MSU Denver is ranked seventh in the region.
"We had some rhythm tonight and it helped our entire offense," Lai said.
"We try to focus on staying aggressive, because when you are passive you have even more errors. Everyone was getting their kills tonight."
Alyssa Kelling five kills and six block assists, passing
Stephanie Laraway (2015-18) for ninth in program history in career total blocks with 348.
Ember Canty had four kills on .429 hitting and added two solo blocks.
Caiden Rexius had 19 digs,
Joli Sadler had 22 assists, and
Jessa Megenhardt had two services aces.
It was a big turnaround from the Oct. 12 meeting, which South Dakota Mines (10-15, 6-10) won 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17.
"They came after us the first time and played better than they did tonight," Glenn said. "And we played sharper tonight than we did the first time. We made some good adjustments and defended them a little differently than we did the first time."
The Hardrockers hit .310 – by far the highest of any MSU Denver opponent this season – in the first meeting, but were held to .066 hitting Friday, including -.031 in the first set and a .000 figure through two sets.
RMAC kills leader Dana Thomson, averaging 4.3 kills per set on .247 hitting coming in, hit .375 with 17 kills in the first meeting. On Friday she hit .100 with only eight kills.
"We just stayed calm with our blocking," Lai said. "She is a really good player and she gets a lot of attempts in a match. So being able to contain a really good outside (hitter) is beneficial, and having a solid, strong block on her helped us."
The Roadrunners are set to host Senior Night on Saturday, with a 5 p.m. match against Black Hills State (11-13, 9-7).
"We were more unified on the court, having more fun as a team," Lai said, comparing the second meeting with the Hardrockers to Friday's contest. "You could feel that when you came into our huddles. It was great having all those smiles and all that energy."
