DENVER – No. 3 MSU Denver sailed into the Gold Bracket of the Colorado Premier Challenge with two victories on Friday, finding solutions for any situation that arose.

• The Roadrunners struggled from the service line in a 3-0 win over Dallas Baptist, giving the Patriots 21.4 percent of their points on 12 service errors in the 25-20, 25-19, 25-17 victory. So they merely rattled off 12 service aces – their most in 85 matches dating to the 2021 season – with just seven errors in a 3-1 win (24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18) over No. 17 Central Missouri.

• They let first-set leads of 15-9, 19-15, and 23-20 – plus a set point at 24-22 – slip away in that first set against the Jennies. So they just buckled down and raised their level of play.

• And when Annika Helf, the most valuable player of last weekend's Western Washington Invitational, struggled just a bit against Central Missouri, the Roadrunners another star to their constellation.

Sophomore Megan Hagar, who had five career kills and wasn't called upon for any attacks in the first five matches of the season, came on late in the second set and took it from there, recording eight kills on error-free .444 hitting, chipping in three blocks and going perfect on a team-high 22 service receptions.
 
"She had a great night," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "She's a great player. Ani was a little off tonight, and that's part of being unified – we have someone who can step in and make great decisions. She's really aggressive and played the whole game really well."
 
By going 2-0 in pool play, the Roadrunners advanced to the Gold Bracket and will play No. 13 Chaminade (Hawaii) in a 11:30 a.m. semifinal Saturday at the Auraria Event Center. No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) and No. 9 West Texas A&M play in the 9 a.m. semifinal in a rematch of the 2022 Division II national championship match.
 
Saturday's third-place match is at 4:30 p.m., with the championship to follow at 7 p.m.
 
We probably shouldn't delve too much deeper into this story without mentioning that Riley Anderson had a season-high 17 kills against Central Missouri, giving the two-time All-American (third team in 2022, second team in 2023) a total of 990 for her career. She should become the 17^th Roadrunner to record 1,000 kills on Saturday.
 
"I can't believe I'm at 990," Anderson said. "That surprised me, because I haven't been keeping track of it. Obviously my setters did a very good job tonight of pushing me out to the pin."
 
Anderson said the Roadrunners changed their focus after letting the first set slip away.
 
"Our mindset was to compete, to go aggressively back at them and not get passive," Anderson said. "We were letting them control us. We wanted to take control of the match a little bit more."
 
Anderson had 11 kills against Dallas Baptist, and Helf continued her stellar play with 10 kills on .389 hitting to go with five service aces.
 
But Hagar, called on frequently last season for clutch late-in-set serves, stepped up for her big all-around match as Helf regrouped.
 
"I just have to shout out our setters (Delaney Eckhardt and Amela Qershia)," Hagar said. "They work very hard to set us up for those opportunities, and our passers are pushing up the ball and working hard in that space. That gives the outsides, and the hitters in general, the opportunities to get those kills.
 
"It was just being confident and knowing that my teammates have my back – they're rooting for me. I was being sure of myself, taking big rips, and playing the game I know how to play."
 
In the opener, MSU Denver recorded 13.5 team blocks, with sophomore first-year starter Kryssa Moerman leading the way with the career-best nine (one solo).
 
Against Central Missouri, the Roadrunners had 14 blocks, with seven each for Moerman and true freshman and fellow middle Alyssa Boyte.
 
"They're just getting better every match," Glenn said. "It's a freshman and a sophomore and they're learning, they're seeing things better, putting their hands in better positions. There were a couple of rallies where they blocked multiple balls within the rally, so that was exciting to see. It really forced some hitters to take shots they were less comfortable with in order to avoid the block."
 
Through two matches, MSU Denver leads the 12-team tournament field with 3.93 blocks per set and a .126 opponent hitting percentage.
 
The Roadrunners also lead with 2.57 aces per set, thanks in part to their work against Central Missouri – the 12 aces were the most for the team since it had 13 in a five-set win over Colorado School of Mines on Oct. 16, 2021. It was MSU Denver's most in a four-set match since serving 14 against Colorado School of Mines on Jan. 24, 2021 – the team's second post-COVID match.
 
Helf had four services aces against Central Missouri, while Anderson, Qershia and Abbie McCrimmon each had two.
 
"We got a little more confident in ourselves and we were working on those hand contacts," Anderson said. "We were popping and stopping to where we wanted the serve to go instead of just whaling it out of bounds."
 
On Saturday, the Roadrunners will seek to win their third Premier championship and first since 2021. But it won't be easy, Chaminade cruised two its wins yesterday, including a victory over No. 2 Wayne State (Neb.).
 
"It's always going to be tough at Premier," Glenn said. "Every year looks a little different. Every match is tough. Tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun, and we're excited to play Chaminade. They're going to bring out things in us that we really need to have tested and give us new opportunities to grow as a unit."