GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 3 MSU Denver volleyball team squared off on the road Thursday night against No. 4 Colorado Mesa and despite recoding more aces, more blocks and hitting for a higher percentage, the Roadrunners were able to overcome their hosts and dropped a 3-1 decision.
 
Colorado Mesa (9-0 overall, 6-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) beat MSU Denver (8-1, 7-1) by set scores of 25-22, 28-26, 24-26 and 25-20.
 
"Mesa played really well," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "And it was a little bit of a shock to our system to go from empty gyms to playing in a fuller gym. It was a good environment and Mesa played well. They put pressure on us all night and we've needed to be challenged in that area.
 
"Sometimes we responded well, and sometimes we didn't. And what it came down to is that we made some uncharacteristic errors that were probably the difference in the match."
 
The Mavericks scored four of the last six points in the first set to break free from a 21-20 advantage, then overcame a 23-21 deficit before eventually winning the second set.
 
MSU Denver fought off two match points in the third set and got back-to-back blocks from the tandem of Mikayla McClinton and Kaylee Corsentino to secure the deciding points.
 
In the fourth set, MSU Denver's Joli Sadler delivered an ace for an 18-18 tie, but Mesa responded with seven of the final nine points to win it.
 
"We've been really comfortable up to this point," Glenn said. "And they played no-quit, aggressive volleyball for four straight sets and never made us comfortable. Even when we had some moments, they attacked back and were able to close out sets."
 
Rylee Hladky had 12 kills and 16 digs for MSU Denver, while Avaline Lai had a team-high 13 kills. Corsentino had 11 kills and three block assists, while Kayla White had 10 kills and 14 digs. Mikayla McClinton and Ember Canty each had four kills, with McClinton adding four block assists and hitting .400 and Canty hitting at a 4.71 clip.
 
Sadler set 26 assists while getting two services aces, and Jessa Megenhardt had 18 assists and 11 digs. Ashlyn Cianciulli had a team-high 19 digs.
 
The Roadrunners outhit Colorado Mesa .186-.178, had a 6-3 edge in service aces and had 6.0 blocks to Mesa's 5.0. They were leading in kills as well until the Mavericks got the final two to edge MSU Denver 56-55.
 
The Roadrunners had a number of errors in all facets of the game.
 
"You can't have as many errors as we did and expect to win a match against a good team like this," Glenn said.