ALAMOSA, Colo. – No. 6 MSU Denver fought off a first-set challenge and finished off strong Friday night in a 3-0 volleyball win at Adams State.
 
Adams State overcame a 16-9 first-set deficit to forge ties at 18-18, 20-20 and 21-21 before MSU Denver recovered to win the opener 25-23, and then followed that up with 25-21 and 25-10 decisions for its 12^th straight victory.
 
The Roadrunners (15-3 overall, 8-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) swept a fifth straight match while extending their league-record winning streak in regular-season conference matches to 48.
 
"We weren't in sync offensively (in the first set), and it took us a while to get into a flow and understand how they were defending us," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "We learned a lot as the match went on. They have a different style that you can't really prepare for until you're in it. It took a while, but we figured out how to execute."
 
Adams State (5-14, 3-6) tied the second set at 6, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13, but then the Roadrunners outscored them 37-18 the rest of the way.
 
"They're a very different, unorthodox team, and as expected they changed lineups quite a bit, and moved different players into different positions all night," Glenn said. "It was a night of constant adjustments, and they did a pretty good job of playing hard against us and forcing us to do some different things in order to score points.
 
"They stayed in system more than we want them to be able to, and they were defending us pretty well, and forced us to adjust our offense. Once we did that, things opened up for us."
 
MSU Denver hit .143 in the first set, .204 in the second, and then a resounding .346 in the third. Adams State hit -.129 in the third set and finished at .068.
 
Riley Anderson led MSU Denver with 14 kills, and Rylee Hladky added seven.
 
Senior Ember Canty, from nearby Sanford, Colo., had a considerable cheering contingent in the crowd of 798 and she responded with six kills.
 
"The hometown crowd was amazing," Glenn said. "It was really cool for them to come out and support her playing one last match in that area."
 
Setters Delaney Eckhardt (22) and Amela Qershia (15) combined for 37 assists, and libero Abbie McCrimmon had 21 digs, one short of her career high.
 
"Abbie played really feisty defense," Glenn said. "We channeled a lot of balls to her and she dug them, and she dug a lot of off-seed shots that saved us points. She had a great match."
 
MSU Denver plays again Saturday at 3 p.m. at CSU Pueblo.