DENVER – Everything came up aces for MSU Denver on Sunday in a 3-1 victory over No. 19 Colorado School of Mines.
 
Fourteen aces to be precise.
 
After going without a service winner in the first set, the Roadrunners started dealing the rest of the way in a 24-26, 25-20, 25-13, 25-19 victory.

"Our serving game is a strength for us," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "When we are serving the ball tough, it really makes defense easy for us. And against a good offensive team like Mines, you have to serve the ball tough. And that changed the course of the match."
 
The 14 service aces tied the most by an MSU Denver team since a 16-ace performance at Augustana (S.D.) in a five-set victory on Aug. 26, 2006. The Roadrunners have had 14 aces one time since, in a three-set sweep of Millersville (Pa.) on Aug. 28, 2009.
 
"When you define Roadrunner volleyball, that's one of the things that's under the definition," said outside hitter Rylee Hladky, who had three aces to go with her match-high 16 kills, both of which were career bests. "We all know what that looks like. And it's an expectation, every time you go back to the service line. We will accept a few misses here and there if they are aggressive."
 
The Roadrunners had seven aces in the second set alone, then had five more in the third set.
 
Mikayla McClinton had all three of her aces in the second set, while Kayla White had two of her match-high five kills and Joli Sadler also had two of her three.
 
"I think going back to the basics worked for all of us," McClinton said of the serving success that started in the second. "We were able to get a good hand contact, and a good toss, and we were able to make the ball move around. We were all able to dial in to the basics we do every day in practice."
 
As the serving began to take over, the offense came along quickly. After outhitting Mines .250 to .206 in the second set, MSU Denver held a .276-.000 hitting advantage in the third set and in the fourth set outhit the Orediggers .227 to .048.
 
"We're always focused on serve and pass, so we're always very aware of who is winning the serve and pass game," Glenn said. "We recognized (after the first set) that we weren't serving tough and that they were pushing us back. We did a good job of responding to that feedback and attacking them a little bit more."
 
Said Hladky: "We focus on serving a lot. Twice a day, just pushing our opponents back, because we know if we can get them out of system it makes the balls coming back at us easier and we can go back hard at them. So that was huge. It's a big deal. Seven, and then five, those are the little inches that change the game to a win from a loss."
 
Hladky hit .314 for the night, but had plenty more help.
 
Ember Canty (.500) and Avaline Lai (.353) each had eight kills, while Canty had four block assists and Lai had five blocks (one solo). White had eight kills, 13 digs and four block assists. Kaylee Corsentino had seven kills.
 
MSU Denver also had a 13-4 advantage in total blocks.
 
"Not only do we have a bunch of weapons that we can go to, but we also have a lot of options within each position with the different sets that we can run," Glenn said.
 
It was the second win of the day for the Roadrunners, who earlier swept Fort Lewis 3-0.
 
For the day, Hladky averaged 3.9 kills per set on .250 hitting while adding 3.6 digs per set, Lai hit .378 while averaging 2.6 kills and 1.3 blocks per set, Canty hit .583 while averaging 2.1 kills and 1.3 blocks per set, and White averaged 2.6 kills, 1.0 aces, 1.0 blocks and 3.6 digs.
 
It was also a fascinating day in that fifth-ranked Regis, picked by coaches to share the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title with MSU Denver, lost in five sets to CSU-Pueblo, the preseason pick to finish fifth in the league. With the Roadrunners (who received votes in the preseason national poll) cruising past Mines for their first win over a ranked team three tries since Sept. 27, 2019, they seem to have an early leg up on other RMAC contenders.
 
"It puts a lot of confidence into us that we already had," McClinton said. "We already knew we had the skills to beat anybody that we play against, but this is the proof that we can do it."