CANYON, Texas – It's going to be a late night at the MSU Denver volleyball team hotel.
 
It's not about cleaning too much up after the eighth-ranked and third-seeded Roadrunners' 3-1 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville in Thursday's first round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament.
 
It's more because the Roadrunners (24-6) will be gearing up to play seventh-seeded Angelo State (Texas) in Friday's 5 p.m. CST semifinal, after the Belles upset second-seeded and ninth-ranked Regis 3-2 earlier Thursday.
 
"It definitely changes my evening," said MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn, who will be putting together a scouting report with her staff. "We knew Regis really well. It would have been the fourth time playing them, so we have a pretty good scout on them.
 
"But we've watched Angelo a little bit, and they did a nice job. They had their backs against the wall (down 2-1) and really turned around and battled to win that match. We'll have our hands full. We'll have to be prepared, and we'll have to play a little cleaner than we did tonight."
 
MSU Denver was able to grind out wins in the first and second sets against Texas A&M-Kingsville (21-11), but then the Javelinas took the third set.
 
The Roadrunners squelched any chance of a potential second upset of the day, though, scoring the first five points of the fourth set, building leads of 10-3, 12-4 and 19-10 and cruising into the second round with a 27-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 victory.
 
"We just decided to clean up all of our plays," outside hitter Riley Anderson said of the difference between the third and fourth sets. "Finishing the easy balls to target, and lifting first contact … it made it feel a lot easier and in rhythm on our side."
 
Glenn said the message was two-fold after the third set.
 
"One, have fun again," Glenn said. "I think we lost that (fun) in the third set. And then we were making the game hard on ourselves by not finishing our passes, by not putting ourselves in the (setter) box on easy balls or letting free balls score. Once we cleaned those pieces of our game up, it felt easier."
 
Anderson had a match-high 15 kills, while Rylee Hladky added 14, Maddy Williams had eight and Skyler Michael contributed seven.
 
Meanwhile MSU Denver's block, and a career-high 26 digs by libero Abbie McCrimmon, wore down the Javelinas, who hit -.068 with 11 errors in the fourth set to finish at .123 for the match.
 
"We knew from scout what each attacker was going to go for," Glenn said. "And then it was execution, or in long rallies remembering to stay inside against certain attackers. … (The block) tends to be a strength for us. Blocks are momentum-changers."
 
Mikayla McClinton may have hit negative, but was still effective with eight blocks (two solo). Ember Canty added five blocks (two solo) and Williams had five block assists. As a team, the Roadrunners compiled 15 total blocks – matching the third-best total of the season for Division II's fifth-best blocking team.
 
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners ripped 11 service aces, including four by setter Delaney Eckhardt, matching a season high that is the program's highest total since getting 13 on Oct. 16, 2021, in a five-set win over Colorado School of Mines.
 
"We're a really aggressive serving team, and we pass against each other all the time, so it boosts our confidence," Eckhardt said. "Serving tough is huge.
 
Said Glenn: "That's one of the things that helps us get some separation. We weren't getting that the first few sets."
 
The first set was tied 21-21 and the Roadrunners needed four set points before finally putting away the Javelinas, with freshmen Autumn Gibbs and Megan Hagar serving aggressively and keeping the Javelinas out of system.
 
McClinton had three blocks (one solo) in a second-set spurt that saw the score go from 19-19 to 23-20 Roadrunners, and Hagar eventually served out the final point.
 
The Roadrunners nearly rallied to win the third set, fighting off four set points to get within 24-23.
 
The fourth set, though, was full speed ahead.
 
"It took us a little time to dial them in," Glenn said. "I'm proud of my team. We kind of stuck in it when it wasn't going super well for us. We showed a lot of composure in end games to finish off sets."