Box Score DENVER – Despite not having one of their senior setters in the lineup and despite falling behind 18-11 in the first set, the second-ranked Roadrunners came away with the 3-0 win against Black Hills State.
 
The Yellow Jackets, who came in with an 0-6 mark in conference play, took advantage of a few Roadrunner miscues and raced out to a commanding seven-point late in the first set. 
 
"We had a little bit of trouble with hitting the ball in-bounds in the first five points or so," head coach Jenny Glenn said. "We were a little bit out of rhythm, but I thought as the match went on we found it. We had a lot of errors and that gave Black Hills State a little bit of life and allowed them to come after us. 
 
Pressure is nothing new for the Red and Blue. In fact, they embrace those moments when things don't go their way. And that is great mentality for a team, who is in everyone's crosshairs night after night.  
 
"We always want to say pressure is fun and that we shake hands with pressure." Glenn said. "We really do want it to be a fun match on the other side. I thought 'Black Hills State' played really feisty defense and they made us alter our shots. So we had to do something different and I thought that was great for us tonight."
 
"It's exciting because everyone always brings their best," Senior setter Delaney Eckhardt said on being highly ranked and getting everyone's best game. "I think we were a little shocked by how good they came out at us and we made a few hitting errors, well, probably more than a few."
 
But the Roadrunners turned things around and outscored the Yellow Jackets 14-5 to steal away the first set 25-23. Six different Roadrunners had at least one kill during the run, including one from senior libero Abbie McCrimmon, who notched her first kill this season and just her seventh in four years. 
 
Senior setter Amela Qershia did not play in the match against the Yellow Jackets, but that allowed sophomore setter GabriElle Brewer to work in conjunction with fellow setter Eckhardt in the Roadrunners 6-2 system. The depth of this team is deep and anyone came come in and make an impact. 
 
"We are Team 56 and it takes all of us," Eckhardt said. "I think that was a good testament of it tonight. We knew G (Brewer) was ready for it, we know that anyone could step in and it was really cool to see her out there. That's our little baby out there."
 
Brewer recorded a career-high 18 assists and added a career-high five digs in the victory. 
 
"We've talked about being a unit all year," Glenn said. "When someone's number is called, they're going in there and they're getting the job done, and we saw that tonight in G. She went in there, did her job and had a good time."
 
After hitting .149 after the first set, the Roadrunners' offense did indeed find its rhythm hitting .345 in the second set and .389 in the third. They held Black Hills State to a mere .155 hitting percentage for the entire match. 
 
Eckhardt dished out 24 assists to nine different Roadrunners, including 12 to both Alyssa Boyte and Annika Helf. McCrimmon piled up 18 of the team's 47 digs. 
 
The victory improved MSU Denver's record to 15-1 overall and 6-0 in RMAC play. Up next for the Roadrunners is a date with South Dakota Mines, who went five sets with the Colorado School of Mines tonight and came away with the 3-2 victory on the road. They are sporting an impressive 5-1 mark the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. 
 
"We need to be ready for them," Eckhardt said. "We can't have a slow start. We need to come out ready and be ready to attack."