PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball halted two long streaks here Saturday against sixth-ranked MSU Denver as the ThunderWolves collected a four-set upset over the Roadrunners in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena. The Pack won 25-11, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20.
 
With Saturday's victory, the Pack extends its win streak to five straight matches and improves its record to 10-10 overall and 8-2 in the RMAC, while MSU Denver fell to 15-4 overall and 8-1 in the league.
 
Saturday's win snapped a 33-match losing skid against the Roadrunners for the Pack and snapped MSU Denver's RMAC record 48-match win streak in league play. It marked the Pack's first regular season win over a Top-10 team since 2020 when the ThunderWolves earned a 3-0 win at Massari Arena.
 
"The ladies played their butts off today and I'm super proud of their competitiveness and belief in one another. We talked a lot about rewriting the narrative of RMAC volleyball this week and that message seemed to resonate. Each player had to step up and play well to get a win such a talented opponent and seeing us step-up under pressure was a dream moment for me as a coach. It says a lot about our character and belief in ourselves," CSU Pueblo head coach Austin Albers said following the win.
 
Prior to Saturday's loss, MSU Denver lost lost an RMAC match for the first time since March 4, 2021, and snapped its eight-match win streak this season. Meanwhile, it was CSU Pueblo's first win over the Roadrunners since 1999. The loss also snapped a 27-match win streak in October for the Roadrunners as they last lost 3-1 in October on Oct. 12, 2019, at South Dakota Mines.
 
In Saturday's win, the Pack hit .384 against the sixth-ranked Roadrunners, including hitting .593 in the first set with 16 kills and no errors on 27 attack attempts as they won the opening set, 25-11. The 11 points were the fewest points score in a set this season by MSU Denver.
 
It marked the third straight match against MSU Denver at Massari Arena that the Pack gave the Roadrunners fits as the two teams played five set matches in both 2021 and 2022, before posting Saturday's four set win.
 
"To see where we were a month ago to where we are now is a testament to our assistant coaches and players. They've stayed bought in, they've invested more time in their craft, and they've put egos aside for the goal of the team," added Albers. "We love wins, but seeing this group develop as a team has been the highlight of it all. I hope our players realize how important that is and stay committed to that improvement."
 
The Pack's win was paced by 20 kills, three blocks, eight digs and a .381 hitting percentage by sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove), while sophomore right side hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark) added 17 kills and hit .438 and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn University) tallied 11 kills and had just one error on 22 attacks en route to hitting .455 in the win.

Freshman libero Maddox Richtmyre (Surprise, Ariz./Willow Canyon) paced the Pack defense with 17 digs, while senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan) had 22 assists, five aces and junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran) had 21 assists, two aces and nine assists.
 
The Pack had 10 aces and recorded 57 kills and just nine errors on 125 attacks in the match. MSU Denver had 51 kills, but committed 20 errors on 135 attacks, but they outblocked the Pack, 6-5.
 
Riley Anderson paced MSU Denver with 14 kills and hit .297, while Mikayla McClinton added eight kills, had three aces, and hit .353. Delaney Eckhardt (18) and Amela Quershia (16) combined for 34 assists and Abbie McCrimmon had a team-high 12 digs. Ember Canty had a match-high five blocks in the loss.
 
Set 1: The first set belonged to the Pack as they hit .592 in the set and didn't have an attack error on 27 attacks as they posted 16 kills. The Pack won the set by scoring 22 of the final 28 points after MSU Denver has taken a 5-3 lead in the set following a kill by Anderson. MSU Denver hit just .074 in the set as they had seven kills but committed five attack errors on 27 swings. Scoville hit a perfect 1.000 in the set as she finished with six kills, three digs and a solo block.
 
Set 2: The second set featured eight ties and four lead changes as the Pack hit .333 with 13 kills, while MSU Denver hit .118 with 12 kills. The Roadrunners jumped out to 9-7 lead, before the Pack used a 5-1 run capped by an assisted block from Scoville and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State Bakersfield). MSU Denver responded with a 5-2 run to take a 15-14 lead. CSU Pueblo, though, answered with a 9-3 run to take a 23-18 lead. After the Roadrunners scored three of the next four points to pull within 24-21, the Pack closed the set with a Scoville kill to cap its 25-21 win. Scoville finished with six kills in the set.
 
Set 3: MSU Denver would rally in the third set as they hit .455 in the en route to posting a 25-18 win to force a fourth set. While MSU Denver hit .455 with 17 kills and had three blocks, while CSU Pueblo had 12 kills and hit .189 in the set.
 
Set 4: In the fourth set, the Pack scored the first six points, with three of them coming on aces by Jansen. The Roadrunners, though, responded by scoring five of the next eight points to pull within 8-5. The Pack would answer back with a 4-1 run to take a 12-6 lead. MSU Denver came right back and scored eight of the next 11 points to drop CSU Pueblo's lead to 15-14. That would be as close as the Roadrunners would get as the Pack closed the set by scoring 10 of the final 16 points to cap the 25-20 win. In the set, the Pack hit .484 with 16 kills, including five kills from Harrington, while MSU Denver hit .244 with 15 kills.
 
Up Next: The Pack will return to the road next weekend (Oct. 27-28) as they play an RMAC Regional pod at Colorado School of the Mines. The Pack open the pod with a 7 p.m. match on Oct. 27 against Colorado Christian, before playing a 5 p.m. match on Oct. 28 against Mines.