PUEBLO, Colo. – Perfection.
 
The No. 1 MSU Denver volleyball team completed its second straight undefeated run through the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season on Saturday, with a 3-2 victory at CSU Pueblo to wrap up the regular-season portion of the schedule.
 
"The RMAC has four teams in the top 25, and Pueblo has been receiving votes all year," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "So we have teams competing at a really high level, and to go undefeated this year – not to mention two years in a row, is an incredible feat. It's a testament to our athletes being willing to stay in the moment, take one match at a time and just grind to win tough road matches like this one.
 
"Winning is hard at any level, and to do it over a long period of time without dropping a match shows a lot of mental fortitude."
 
The Roadrunners also set an RMAC record with their 40^th straight regular-season league win, dating back to the 2020 season (played in the spring of 2021). MSU Denver hasn't lost a regular-season RMAC match since March 4, 2021. The old record was 39 straight league wins, by Nebraska-Kearney during the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons.
 
"We took a moment after the match and talked to the team about it and reflected on what a big deal it is to win 40 straight and break the RMAC record," Glenn said. "It goes back to putting in a lot of hard work over a long period of time to produce those results and to break Kearney's record is just a really special and unique accomplishment.
 
"It wasn't something we put on our board at the beginning of the year. We didn't really know that it was a thing, but as it's been talked about more in the past few weeks, it is really humbling to think about. I'm proud of this group of Roadrunners and the alums who came before them and contributed to it. I hope we made all of our alumni proud with this."
 
But it wasn't easy, CSU Pueblo bounced back from a two-set deficit, and a match point held by MSU Denver in the fourth set, to force a fifth and deciding frame in what was a 2-hour, 43-minute match.
 
But, tied 7-7 in the fifth, Mikayla McClinton went on a four-point service run that included just one ace but also saw her get the ThunderWolves out of system with her serve.
 
"The night was just hard and any break we could get was welcomed," Gelnn said. "Serving and blocking usually opens things up for us and that run was what we needed. Kudos to Mikayla because she did what we needed to create some breathing room."
 
CSU Pueblo got within 13-11, but kills by Kaylee Corsentino and Rylee Hladky clinched the match as MSU Denver improved to 25-1 overall and, as mentioned previously, 18-0 in the RMAC. It's the third time in seven seasons as head coach that Glenn has guided MSU Denver to an 18-0 mark in league play.
 
Kelsey Gordon matched a career high with 18 kills on .342 hitting and fellow right-side hitter Kaylee Corsentino added 15 kills on .300 hitting on a night that CSU Pueblo (19-7, 12-6) just wouldn't give in.
 
"We had a nice matchup on the right side of the court and those two executed really well for us," Glenn said. "We had a hard time scoring from the middle because we were out of system so much, and we had a hard time on the left because we were facing a lot of double blocks. Our right-sides did a nice job of finding space and attacking with the right shot in the right situation. They are two different style of attackers and they found the different shots we needed, and they stepped up when we needed them to."
 
The ThunderWolves were continually able to absorb some of the Roadrunners' best shots while frequently staying in system.
 
However, MSU Denver had plenty of fight, too.
 
The Roadrunners recorded a whopping 113 digs, the program's highest total since having a program rally-scoring era record 114 digs in a 3-2 win against Colorado School of Mines on Oct. 22, 2004.
 
Ashlyn Cianciulli had 24 digs, while Hladky added 21.
 
"It came down to service and pass, and we had an off night in that department," Glenn said. "It was a bit of a struggle, but I'm proud of our passers for staying in the fight when it was hard. Some nights it's easy, but tonight wasn't.

"Pueblo played incredibly feisty and was hard to score on. We had to diversify and constantly change strategy to try to get some space. We weren't playing our best, but to be able to still find a win to pull out a win on the road against a team that was playing well is again a testament to our group's mental toughness."
 
Hladky also had 17 kills, but had to work hard for it on 54 attacks.
 
McClinton had five kills on .364 hitting (one errors, 11 attacks) and added two aces and six blocks (one solo).
 
Delaney Eckhardt set a career-high 30 assists, one better than Amela Qershia's season-high tying 29, as the Roadrunners hit .201 for the match.
 
CSU Pueblo hit .169 as MSU Denver extended its overall winning streak to 19 – with all 19 teams hitting below .200.
 
MSU Denver, which secured the top seed in the RMAC Tournament last weekend, will now face eighth-seeded Fort Lewis in a 5 p.m. match Thursday at the Auraria Event Center.
 
The entire three-day tournament will be played on the Roadrunners' homecourt, with Thursday match times and unofficial pairings as follows:
 
Noon: No. 7 seed South Dakota Mines (11-15, 8-10) vs. No. 2 seed Regis (20-6, 16-2).
2:30 p.m.: No. 6 seed Colorado Christian (15-12, 10-8) vs. No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa (20-5, 15-3).
5 p.m.: No. 8 seed Fort Lewis (10-14, 8-10) at No. 1 MSU Denver (25-1, 18-0).
7:30 p.m.: No. 5 seed CSU Pueblo (19-7, 12-6) vs. No. 4 seed Colorado School of Mines (20-6, 15-3).
 
South Dakota Mines, Fort Lewis and UCCS all tied for seventh, but tiebreakers gave South Dakota Mines the seventh seed and Fort Lewis the eighth. MSU Denver is 2-0 against Fort Lewis this season.
 
The semifinals are Friday at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., with the finals at 6 p.m. Saturday.
 
"It was good for us to get challenged at this time," Glenn said. "You always wanted to be tested and they did that to us. These are the kinds of matches you love to play and you hope you come out on the right side of the them. With the postseason coming up, it was perfect timing for us to be challenged."