DENVER – All signs pointed to a strong night for Alyssa Kelling.
 
And Kelling didn't disappoint.
 
The senior middle blocker, a four-year regular, had a career-high 13 kills and matched a career best with 10 blocks, and needed only three sets to do it as MSU Denver swept Fort Lewis 3-0 on Friday night to start Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
 
"In our scouting, we thought we might have a good opportunity in the middle," Kelling said. "We did a really good job of executing our pass, and the setters delivered great balls."
 
Kelling also posted a season-best hitting percentage of .565 (13 kills, no errors, 23 attacks) in the 25-21, 25-10, 25-18 victory at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"I was really happy to see that," Glenn said. "We knew it would be a good matchup in the middle, and we've been working on getting her better, and more, opportunities. She was really aggressive and played great tonight, not just offensively but also defensively and executing the scouting report."
 
Kelling had six kills and five blocks in the first set as MSU Denver – coming off a win over top-ranked defending national champion Tampa (Fla.) – started the match out of sync and fell behind 9-1.
 
"She's a very strategic player," outside hitter Kayla White said of Kelling. "She's not just, 'I just go bang.' She gives me a lot of feedback. She's telling us what's about to come at us. That's what allows her to be so aggressive against our opponents, because she's studied her scouting report so much."
 
After the slow start, it was clear the Roadrunners (6-3 overall, 1-0 RMAC) had taken control.
 
"We came out very slow," Glenn said. "We're constantly changing our lineup for a variety of reasons, so it was function of that a little bit. And we weren't communicating well on the court. We were super quiet. And then we had a ton of hitting errors.
 
"We were down 9-1 and a significant portion of that was our errors. However, Fort Lewis came out swinging and really firing at us, and it pushed us back a little bit. It took us a minute to regroup, and I was proud that we came back and won that first set instead of giving in."
 
The Roadrunners hit .448 while sailing through the second set, then finished up the sweep.
 
White finished with 10 kills and Alexis Benda added eight. Jessa Megenhardt had 21 assists and three service aces, and Rylee Hladky also had three aces. The Roadrunners had a 10-4 advantage in blocks and built a 6-0 margin in service aces against Fort Lewis (4-6, 0-1).
 
MSU Denver plays host to Adams State (3-7, 0-1) on Saturday at 5 p.m. on Hispanic Heritage Night at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"We have to start strong and continue to work out some kinks in the things we are doing," Glenn said. "We didn't control first balls as well as we needed. I'd like to see our first contact sharper and to serve aggressively from the start."