DENVER – No. 4 MSU Denver is going for Gold again.
 
On Friday, for the second straight season, the Roadrunners went 2-0 to win their pool and advance to the Gold Bracket at the Colorado Premier Challenge. They'll try to repeat as tournament champions at Division II's best in-season tournament on Saturday.
 
"Our goal last year was to get to the Gold Bracket, and we did it," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "The next goal is to win it. Same this year. We took care of business today, so we gave ourselves a great opportunity to play against some really good teams."
 
The Roadrunners dispatched a pair of nationally-ranked foes with relative ease on Friday, defeating No. 16 Angelo State (Texas) 3-0 and No. 10 Northwest Missouri State 3-1.
 
"We're trying not to think about the past – it's a new year," libero Ashlyn Cianciulli said. "But it's going to be exciting to see what we can do in the Gold Bracket. We've got some tough matches ahead of us."
 
Funny, though, it will be a little bit like the past on Saturday – specifically similar to last year in particular.
 
The Roadrunners face No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) in an 11:30 a.m. match at the Auraria Event Center – MSU Denver beat the Golden Bears in the same round last year. The other two teams in the bracket are No. 15 Wayne State (Neb.) and No. 12 West Texas A&M – the Roadrunners beat Wayne State in last year's Premier final and lost to West Texas A&M in the South Central Regional final to end their season.
 
"There's a lot of good volleyball left to be played, and we're going to have teams challenge us," outside hitter Rylee Hladky said. "And that's what we need. It's a lot of fun."
 
Friday's key matchup was the evening showdown with Northwest Missouri State. The Roadrunners built momentum as the match progressed in winning 25-23, 19-25, 25-14, 25-14.
 
"We're very excited, not just because we got the wins, but because we found a flow, and it was beautiful volleyball," Hladky said.
 
Hladky, the returning All-American, had 15 kills and 15 digs against the Bearcats, while Riley Anderson added 13 kills and Kaylee Corsentino had 10. Ember Canty had six blocks (two solo), Cianciulli had 23 digs and Delaney Eckhardt unleashed five service aces.
 
"The numbers we're putting up from every position are really good," Glenn said. "I was proud of the whole offense."
 
In the opener against Angelo State, MSU Denver sailed to a 25-9, 25-22, 25-14 victory, hitting .297 for the match and .480 in the third set. Hladky had 13 kills and 11 digs, Anderson added 10 kills, Mikayla McClinton had eight kills and six blocks (one solo) and Canty had six kills and six blocks.
 
"From the jump, Jenny has been telling us, that Angelo is a big match – it's important for regionals," Cianciulli said. "So we wanted to go in there going bang and playing Roadrunner volleyball. And it usually works."
 
MSU Denver improved to 6-0, though four wins last weekend had only drawn mixed reviews internally.
 
"It was a great day," Glenn said. "I'm really happy with how the team attacked the day. Last week we didn't feel in rhythm, and we definitely found that today. We came out super aggressive, which we like to do at the Premier, and I think at times we were overwhelming."