DENVER – A weekend that started in consternation ended in celebration.
 
After being swept by No. 12 Regis on Thursday, No. 7 MSU Denver blocked that out – literally – in a 3-1 victory Saturday over No. 11 Colorado Mesa, recording an astounding 22 total blocks, including 13 individual blocks by Ember Canty, as the Roadrunners seemed to regain confidence with every point.
 
"I'm really glad that we showed up tonight the way that we did," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "We played with a lot of heart and a lot of passion and we executed well. That's the team I knew we were. We've just had a little bit of a hard time accessing that in the last week."
 
MSU Denver (16-5) had also lost a conference match last weekend at CSU Pueblo, and seemed to have hit a low point in the loss to Regis.
 
But they turned that around in the 24-26, 25-19, 26-24, 25-14 victory.

"We had a lot of discussion about our passion and our 'whys'" right-side hitter Maddy Williams said of the after match aftermath against Regis. "Like why we are playing volleyball, and what our heart is for with volleyball. Tonight we could feel our passion. Our passion transferred into how we played. We didn't play with enough passion on Thursday. This feels a lot better."
 
The 22 blocks are the program's rally-scoring era (since 2001) record, while Canty's total is also the program's rally-scoring era individual record.
 
The team total is four more than any RMAC team has had this season and is the most by any RMAC team since at least 2012 – earlier records aren't readily available on the league website. Recent individual records also weren't accessible on the RMAC website as of Saturday night.
 
(As a side note, block assists are counted as total blocks for individuals, but as 0.5 blocks for team blocks.)
 
Still, no doubt, the results are historic, even for a team that a few weeks ago was leading Division II in blocks per set and came into this weekend sixth in the country with 2.57 blocks per set. Saturday they had 7.33 blocks per set.
 
"Mesa is a team that really challenges the block," Glenn said. "They make you be good there, and we did a really good job with that. Blocking is a strength for us, and we've not been doing it as well the last couple of matches, so it was really good to see us get back on track tonight from a lineup and timing perspective.
 
"We made really good adjustments, small adjustments, throughout the course of the evening."
 
A case in point of Mesa (20-3) challenging the block is that Canty broke the program's rally-scoring era block record of 11 set by Williams. Against Mesa. Last month.
 
Canty had the highest individual block total in a match by an RMAC player since Dixie Stat's Kasie Gilfert had 14 on Nov. 9, 2018. Against Mesa.
 
"We just decided that we were going to keep it simple," said Canty, who leads all active Division II players with 452 career blocks. "We didn't need to do much. Our floor defense was going to be feisty behind us, so honestly it was all of us working together."
 
The program's previous record for team blocks in a match was 19 against Hawaii-Hilo on Aug. 28, 2008.
 
There were multiple milestones on the night, including those by right-side hitters Williams and Skyler Michael, who carried the club offensively in the first two sets.
 
"Kudos to our setters," Michael said. "They did such a great job of setting the balls to us. I had a lot of line in the first and second sets, so we just kept working the line. Amela (Qershia) just shot it to me, and I just took the rip."
 
Michael had career highs of nine kills, five block assists and 11.5 points while hitting .533. Williams had 11 kills on .348 hitting while adding nine blocks (one solo) and recording a career-high 16.0 points.
 
"We had a really good gameplan," Williams said. "Line was our goal to hit, and it ended up working really well for Skyler, and then over the night it ended up working out for me, too. Our setters were giving us great balls and the defense, knowing there was coverage behind us, was also super helpful because we could just rip at the ball knowing that it would get picked up."
 
Said Glenn: "We produced really well from the right side of the court. That's something we've been trying to get better at. We made a little bit of an adjustment in our lineup, and I think that helped us in that space. They both did a really nice job offensively and defensively."
 
Riley Anderson had a team-high 12 kills, and Rylee Hladky had nine kills, a season-high 17 digs and four blocks, including a career-best three solos.
 
Setters Delaney Eckhardt (26) and Qershia (21) combined for 47 assists, and Abbie McCrimmon had 21 digs, one short of her career high.
 
Middle blocker Mikayla McClinton added seven kills on .538 hitting as well as four block assists.
 
So, ultimately, the Power Pod scheduling arrangement of Regis, Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver – the top three teams in the RMAC last season – probably did what it was intended to do. Each team won one match (Mesa beat Regis on Friday) while increasing their strength of schedule, which seems to have a disproportionate amount of weight in Division II postseason qualification and seeding formulas.
 
And the matches, played as non-conference contests, were much more challenging than playing a second league match against a weaker opponent.
 
"It was excellent for us at this point in the season," Glenn said. "While it hurt to lose two in a row, I do really think it's beneficial for us from a strength-of-schedule as well as a growth-for-team standpoint."
 
And MSU Denver's power pod girls succeeded in getting their mojo back.
 
"In the end, we learned a lot," Michael said. "We learned from the Regis match. We learned a lot from this match. We found our passion again."