DENVER – It was a Wednesday wild card kind of night.
 
No. 8 MSU Denver, running out of chips early as upstart Colorado School of Mines won the first two sets, shuffled the deck and pulled out a couple of trump cards to rally for a 3-2 victory over the Orediggers.
 
Not only did coach Jenny Glenn bring on outside-hitting super-sub Maddie Lindsay for extended action, she also pulled out a rarely played ace in true freshman middle blocker Kryssa Moerman for the start of the third set.
 
"We needed a different look, honestly," Glenn said. "Sometimes teams scout you and you just need to change things up. Same with Maddie Lindsay, even though she played against them the first time (a September victory). They're ready for one thing, and you do something different. Both of them did a really good job tonight."
 
Moerman, who has shown flashes of her potential in her brief playing time behind middle blockers Ember Canty and Mikayla McClinton, merely had seven blocks (one solo) in the final three sets while adding three kills in six error-free swings. Coming into the match, her season totals were 13 kills and 12 blocks.
 
"I was definitely nervous, but our team is really supportive, so I wasn't scared to go out and try to do stuff," Moerman said. "I just tried to do my best."
 
MSU Denver improved to 19-5 overall and 11-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while moving within one victory of clinching the No. 1 seed for the RMAC Tournament.
 
But the path to a possible league title wasn't quite as easy to see early on.
 
"Mines came out really aggressive and we were making an unheard of amount of errors in the first two sets from the service line (seven) and attacking (14)," Glenn said. "We were really hesitant. We didn't come out expecting them to attack as quickly and as fast as they did, and it put us on our heels. Then it becomes hard."
 
But the Roadrunners were able to re-set and re-focus.
 
"I'm proud of our grit," Glenn said. "When things weren't going well, once we had a minute to breathe and re-calibrate, I thought we grinded the rest of the match. We didn't let up. When we got a lead, we stayed with it and that was critical."
 
Also turning on the switch for the final three sets was Canty, the sixth-year senior who leads all active Division II players in career total blocks. Canty had 10 kills on 19 error-free swings (.526 hitting) and seven blocks. She had nine kills and six blocks in the final three sets.
 
"She went into 'Mom Mode,' in the third set," Glenn said. "That's when she says, 'Enough. I'm going to do what I need to do.' We've seen that a couple of times from her this year, and we really like it when that version comes out. She made really good decisions and caught them off guard a little bit. We really needed that boost at the point in the match."
 
The third-set momentum shift was obvious – after losing the first two sets 25-22 and 25-19, the Roadrunners won the third 25-10 and continued to play with the lead in closing it out 25-17, 15-10.
 
"You could see that we were just a little bit slow and behind the play the first two sets," Canty said. "It definitely wasn't us out there. Going into the intermission between the second and third sets, we knew that our backs were against the wall, we had nothing to lose, and we had to come together. And that's what it was, fighting for the person next to us and being aggressive."
 
And the Roadrunners' mom saw one of her youngest children, Moerman, come into her own.
 
"I was super excited to see her," Canty said. "She obviously plays against us in practice on the other side of the net, and I knew she was a threat because we have to attack against her. I wasn't worried at all when she came in because I'm super confident in her ability and the work that she's put in."
 
After hitting .132 for the first two sets, the Roadrunners hit .426 in sets 3 and 4 and wound up at .237 for the night.
 
Riley Anderson led the way with 12 kills and added five blocks.
 
Lindsay had nine kills, including eight on .333 hitting in sets three and four.
 
Redshirt freshman right-side hitter Skyler Michael matched her career high with nine kills, while fellow right-side hitter Maddy Williams (a former middle blocker backup to Canty and McClinton) had seven kills and six blocks (one solo).
 
The Roadrunners had a decisive 16-1 advantage in total blocks.
 
Williams had her moments in big matches when backing up Canty and McClinton, and now Moerman has one, too. Not only does Canty lead all active Division II players in blocks, McClinton is third.
 
"I've actually really enjoyed it, because I've been able to watch them, and they are amazing players," Moerman said. "Seeing that and taking the opportunity to learn has been really good for me."