DENVER – If you're going to have to play in a third-place match at a tournament, there aren't too many better ways to get yourself motivated.
 
Division II No. 4 MSU Denver, which dropped a disappointing 3-1 semifinal match earlier Saturday to No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.), found itself later in the day playing No. 12 West Texas A&M in the consolation match of the Gold Bracket of the Colorado Premier Challenge.
 
Yeah, that West Texas A&M.
 
The program that came back from a two-set deficit to deny the Roadrunners of a first-ever trip to the Division II quarterfinals, on the same Auraria Event Center floor, back in December.
 
"I think there was a little hidden motivation," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "We don't like to talk about last year much, but we knew we had to keep our foot on the gas the whole match. If you're going to have a quick turnaround and you need a little extra something to motivate you, I think that helped us flip the switch today."
 
Unlike last year, when the Lady Buffs' Torrey Miller was spectacular while smashing 31 kills, MSU Denver had only a few moments where it didn't seem in control in winning 25-15, 25-23, 25-21. Miller was held to 11 kills and hit .143.
 
"It was definitely something we talked about," outside hitter Riley Anderson said. "We definitely wanted revenge from last year. We tried to not to focus on No. 31 (Miller), who killed us last year, and we played our game."
 
Anderson had a season-high 15 kills on .355 hitting, while Kelsey Gordon (.375 hitting) and Rylee Hladky each had seven kills as the Roadrunners improved to 7-1 for the weekend after going 3-1 at the Premier – with all three wins against teams ranked in the national top 16.

Both Anderson and Hladky were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
"A win is a win, and I'm super happy to come out with three of them," Gordon said. "It's my first time playing in this tournament, and you have to bring your 'A' game, and I think we did a good job of that."
 
Against No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul, the same team the Roadrunners beat in last year's Premier semifinals, MSU Denver uncharacteristically struggled on serve-receive and passing – an almost impossible predicament to overcome against another national championship-caliber contender. Concordia-St. Paul won by scores of 27-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16.
 
"We lost one this morning when we weren't quite ourselves," Glenn said. "They were really tough from the serve-pass perspective. They served tough and really made us uncomfortable in the passing lanes."
 
Kaylee Corsentino had a season-high 12 kills and Anderson added 11, but the Roadrunners had seven serve-receive errors and lost plenty of points when unable to make a quality pass off the serve.
 
"We were intentional with the serve-and-pass game," Glenn said of the second match. "Every time we are winning the serve-pass game, we are winning the match. That's especially true in the preseason
 
"The girls reset. I'm really proud of how we flipped the switch. It was a quick turnaround from being not quite ourselves to dialing it back in."
 
That included a huge match from Anderson.
 
"We had a good matchup there, and I'm just really proud of how she's continuing to progress through all aspects of her game, her attacking, blocking, passing, floor defense – she's getting a little better each week and that's all we can ask for," Glenn said.
 
And sometimes there's something to be gained from a loss.
 
"Nobody likes to lose, especially me," Glenn said. "But you learn so much more from failing than you do from succeeding. This tournament taught us a lot, that we can't get emotional.
 
"The reality is, when we stay ahead of the play and are proactive, prepared and forward-thinking, we play good volleyball. We were just a little behind this morning."
 
Said Gordon: "We want people to pressure us and make us work hard for wins."