LAKEWOOD, Colo. – After Maddy Williams and Mikayla McClinton grabbed headlines last weekend for their blocking exploits, apparently it was time for Division II's active career leader in blocks to make her presence felt.
 
No. 7 MSU Denver middle blocker Ember Canty followed her up season-high seven blocks from Thursday with a career-high nine blocks (two solo) as the Roadrunners sailed past rival Colorado School of Mines on Friday in a match played at Colorado Christian.
 
Canty, who now has 419 career blocks (McClinton ranks second nationally with 382), led a defensive effort that included 12 team total blocks.
 
"Ember has such great vision," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "Even during her true freshman year (when Canty redshirted), she was a great blocker then. She knows where to put her hands in space, she has really good instincts and her volleyball IQ has increased every year. She does a lot of things that people don't always notice. She puts her hands in the right space and takes away teams' power shots."
 
Skyler Michael had four blocks as the Roadrunners (11-3) limited Mines to .037 hitting in the 25-14, 25-14, 25-18 victory.
 
Though Mines is a conference opponent, the match was played as a non-conference contest as part of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's new scheduling setup. MSU Denver has still won 44 straight regular-season RMAC matches.
 
The Roadrunners hit a season-best .340 in winning their eighth straight match.
 
The Roadrunners posted their first sweep of Mines in 16 matches, dating to Oct. 28, 2015. The teams are now 8-8 against one another since that match, with the previous 15 all going at least four sets.
 
"It was a great match," Glenn said. "I thought we played consistent from start to finish, really played our game and forced them to adjust to us. We ran a pretty well-distributed offense, with scoring from all three positions, which is our goal, and we locked down the serve-and-pass game. When all those things are working together, things go your way most of the time."
 
Williams hit .667, with eight kills and no errors in 12 swings, while Michael had seven kills on .385 hitting, Canty had six kills and hit .455 and McClinton had six kills and hit .600.
 
Riley Anderson led the way with 11 kills and a career-high 18 digs for her fourth career double-double, and she also had two service aces. Setters Amela Qershia (24) and Delaney Eckhardt (16) combined for 40 assists.
 
"Our offense was really efficient, and our setters did a really nice job of understanding the game plan and providing one-on-ones for our attackers," Glenn said.