DENVER – A line in the movie Shawshank Redemption is similar to the state of the sixth-ranked MSU Denver volleyball team.
 
It isn't Red saying, "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying."
 
It's Roadrunners coach Jenny Glenn saying, "The middle part of the season can be a grind. Do you want to get better during the grind, or survive the grind? We're trying to get better in the grind.
 
"As a group, we're getting a little better at something each week, a specific area of our game, and then transferring it into the matches.
 
The Roadrunners, winners of 11 straight matches to improve to 14-3 overall and 7-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, play away from home for the fourth time in five weeks this weekend, with matches Friday at 6 p.m. at Adams State and Saturday at 3 p.m. at CSU Pueblo.
 
An improved Adams State team is 5-13 overall and 3-5 in the RMAC, while CSU Pueblo has rebounded from a surprising start and is now playing as expected while improving to 8-10 and 6-2.
 
"Adams State has a new coach, so their system is a little different from years past, but they have a lot of returners – veteran players who know what they are doing," Glenn said. "They're athletic, and they can put things together when they pass well. They change their lineups a lot, so we'll have to be ready to make in-game adjustments – that will be a critical piece because who is playing and which position they are playing can change.
 
"And typically it's a rowdy environment in their gym and we'll need to be ready for that."
 
MSU Denver has won 12 straight against Adams State dating to 2012 and is 41-4 all-time in the series.
 
The matchup with CSU Pueblo has also been one-sided historically, with MSU Denver having won 33 straight dating to 1999 and 66 of 75 all-time meetings.
 
However, two of the biggest challenges to the Roadrunners' ongoing league record of 47 straight regular-season wins in RMAC competition have been at CSU Pueblo – five-set victories in both 2021 and 2022. The ThunderWolves had two match points in 2021, and rallied from a two-set deficit to force a deciding set last year – it was in that match that MSU Denver broke the previous league record with its 40^th straight conference win.
 
This season the ThunderWolves opened 1-7, but have gone 7-3 since with losses to nationally-ranked Regis and Colorado Mesa as well as to a solid South Dakota Mines team.
 
"They return a couple of big point scorers from last year," Glenn said of the team that MSU Denver has beaten in the first round of each of the last two NCAA Tournaments. "I think they are finding their groove more and are more in sync as a group. They are really tough on their home floor, so we expect them to battle on Saturday."
 
Individually, MSU Denver's long list of accomplishments continues to build. An overlooked one has been setter Delaney Eckhardt becoming the 19^th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career assists last weekend. Eckhardt now has 1,002, and she passed Joli Sadler for the 10^th highest total in program history during the rally-scoring era.
 
"She's doing a great job," Glenn said. "She's really turned a corner with her confidence. She does a good job of connecting with her hitters and understanding how to get the most out of them. It's been nice to see her blossom into her true personality on the court – a feisty competitor who is aware of how the team is functioning personally and from a performance standpoint."