DENVER – Reaching 1,000 in a career statistical category doesn't happen all the time, even though lately it seems to have been happening all the time for the second-ranked MSU Denver volleyball team.
 
Amela Qershia set her 1,000^th career assist – two weeks after Rylee Hladly got her 1,000^th career kill and Ashlyn Cianciulli got her 1,000^th career dig – as the Roadrunners cruised to a 3-0 win over South Dakota Mines on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"We've had a lot of 1,000s lately," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "Amela is continually getting better every year. The language barrier (Qershia is from Albania) gets smaller every year. She's really turned a corner this year as far as understanding our system and how to distribute the ball. She played really well tonight specifically."
 
Qershia had 17 assists to put her at 1,002 for her career, which is 18^th in program history.
 
"The credit goes to my passers and my hitters," Qershia said. "It feels really good."
 
Delaney Eckhardt, the other setter in the Roadrunners' 6-2 offense, set 18 assists as the two setters helped direct their team to a season-best .407 hitting percentage, with 45 kills and only eight errors in 91 attacks.
 
"We are really good in each department," Qershia said. "You could tell we were connecting with everyone in all three positions, so it was awesome."
 
South Dakota Mines hit .367 in the first set but couldn't keep pace in what was ultimately a 25-21, 25-15, 25-15 decision.
 
"South Dakota Mines played a very tactical and well thought out match, and executed it well," Glenn said. "We spent the first set making some adjustments and being ready for what they were going to bring at us and by the second set we had it figured out a little better."
 
Hladky had 10 kills on .429 hitting, while Kaylee Corsentino, Riley Anderson and Maddy Williams all had six kills. Anderson and Williams both did it in just two sets and Williams hit an eye-popping .667 (no errors, nine attacks). Cianciulli had a team-best 10 digs, Ember Canty have five blocks (one solo) and Eckhardt had two service aces.
 
The Roadrunners have won 29 straight regular-season RMAC matches dating back to the 2020 season (which was played in the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19).

The Roadrunners improved to 14-1 overall and 7-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference heading into Saturday's 3 p.m. match with Black Hills State, which precedes the annual Roadrunners Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
 
"Black Hills is very athletic and moves around a lot and creates a lot of problems for you if you let them be in system," Glenn said. "It's going to require lots of adjustments because of the style they play."