SPEARFISH, S.D. – MSU Denver relied on strong serving and across-the-board contributions both offensively and defensively Sunday to cruise to a 3-0 volleyball victory at Black Hills State.
 
"The strength of our unit is what we talk about," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "Our unity, and being able to come together in matches where it maybe doesn't feel comfortable is another strength of this team. We struggled some, but we struggled together and we came out stronger because of it.
 
"We talk about how serve-and-pass wins at this time of the season, and then the offense and defense comes around later. Those two backbones (serve-and-pass) helped allow us to win in three."
 
The Roadrunners served eight aces, maintaining their improbable pace of 2.8 service aces per set, in running past the Yellow Jackets 25-14, 25-22, 25-19 while improving to 3-0, both overall and in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
Jessa Megenhardt had three aces, Kayla White and Rylee Hladky each had two, and Ashlyn Cianciulli had the other service winner.
 
But there were times when the Roadrunners seemed unable to get into a rhythm, too, playing a Yellow Jacket team in its season opener.
 
"You never really know what to expect from Black Hills," Glenn said. "We went in blind and adjusted on the fly since they didn't compete last weekend. They tipped a lot of balls and tried to take our setter out, which we know teams will do. But we found a way to battle through and stay composed when it didn't feel good."
 
Though hitting just .138, the Roadrunners got eight kills from Avaline Lai, seven from Hladky, six from White, five each from Kaylee Corsentino and Ember Canty, and four from Mikayla McClinton.

The Roadrunners held Black Hills State to .046 hitting, and got four blocks (one solo) by McClinton, three from Corsentino and two each from White and Canty.
 
Cianciulli had 14 digs, while Hladky and Joli Sadler each had 11.
 
MSU Denver improved to 16-0 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, losing only four sets in the history of the series.
 
The Roadrunners return to action Saturday in Gunnison, Colo., facing host Western Colorado at 11 a.m. before a neutral-court match against Adams State at 2 p.m.