LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Middle blocker
Ember Canty had a season-high nine kills on .818 hitting and also added five blocks (four solo) as No. 2 MSU Denver cruised to a 3-0 victory Tuesday night at Colorado Christian.
The Roadrunners improved to 20-1 overall and 13-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with their 35
th-consecutive regular-season league win, which is just five short of the RMAC record.
Rylee Hladky had 11 kills on .500 hitting,
Riley Anderson had 11 kills on .450 hitting, and
Kelsey Gordon chipped in nine kills on .500 hitting as the Roadrunners hit .407 for the night, matching their season best from Sept. 30 against South Dakota Mines.
"We took advantage of some good matchups and we contained their pins well," MSU Denver coach
Jenny Glenn said. "Both teams served really aggressively and challenged each other in the passing lanes, and we battled through and attacked at a high rate."
Canty's previous season best had been five kills – her career-high is 15.
"She's been working really hard offensively the last couple of weeks, and tonight was a product of that work," Glenn said. "She did a good job of being aggressive, and of getting up at the right time and giving herself a good opportunity to score – especially in transition."
Tuesday was the fourth time the last seven matches the Roadrunners have hit at least .400 and the sixth time in the last eight they've hit at least .372. The Roadrunners are now hitting .293 for the season – the school record is .294 in 1993.
MSU Denver hit .444 in the first set and .471 in the second before cooling off to .300 in the third. Colorado Christian was by far the best team the Roadrunners have posted such gaudy numbers against in their recent eight-match tear.
"Our setters did a really nice job of distributing well and locating," Glenn said. "When you are able to distribute and locate and use all three positions across the net, it makes you really hard to defend."
The Roadrunners have lost only three of 42 sets against league opponents while posting 11 sweeps.
Delaney Eckhardt set 22 assists and started the match with one of the Roadrunners' six aces.
Amela Qershia served two aces and Hladky had a team-best 10 digs.
In winning 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 against the RMAC's fifth-place team (Colorado Christian is 13-9 overall and 8-5 in the league), MSU Denver had no problem in a potentially tricky road match.
Now the Roadrunners can turn their full attention to Saturday's 3 p.m. showdown at No. 18 Regis (15-5, 11-1), in a match which has conference, regional and potentially national implications.
"It'll be a fun match," Glenn said. "It's two teams that have had a lot of success to this point, and it's a crosstown rivalry. We always enjoy playing this match."