DENVER – You may have heard.
On Saturday night at 5 p.m., No. 2 MSU Denver plays host to No. 6 Colorado School of Mines in the Roadrunners' biggest home match in years. It's a "Get the Red Out" night, with all MSU Denver fans encouraged to wear red.
But Saturday won't matter as much if the Roadrunners (14-2 overall, 8-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) don't take care of business Friday at 7 p.m. against Chadron State.
"Friday night the focus is Chadron, and once that match is over we'll shift our focus," MSU Denver coach
Jenny Glenn said. "But right now we've got to keep getting better in practice every day and stay focused on our improvement.
"Because as important as this weekend is, it's not the only thing that matters in the big picture. Our goal is to continue to get better each week in a specific area so that at the end of the season we're playing our best volleyball."
In accordance with MSU Denver campus protocols, all fans in attendance at the indoor venue will be required to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status.
Friday's match is part of Hispanic Heritage Night, so the public address will be in Spanish and "Correcaminos" (Roadrunners in Spanish) T-shirts will be distributed.
Saturday is Youth Day, so everyone under 18 will be admitted free.
Chadron State is 4-11 overall and 2-6 in the RMAC. MSU Denver is 52-2 all-time against the Eagles, including 28 straight victories dating to 2004.
"A lot of teams we've played have had similar lineups to last season, but their starting lineup looks different than last season," Glenn said. "So it will be fresh faces in certain positions across the net, a fresh scout."
Colorado School of Mines is 15-1 and 8-0. The only team ranked ahead of MSU Denver – No. 1 Washburn (Kan.) – has only one loss, and it came to Mines.
The Orediggers run the most efficient offense in the country with a .335 hitting percentage and they rank second nationally with 15.1 kills per set.
"We've been seeing the same faces from them for a few years now," Glenn said. "They have a very efficient offense – that's what they do best. They're going to score on us, and we're going to do our best to extend rallies and keep balls off the floor, turn balls back and hopefully score back at them. It should be a really fun, high-level match and it's great to have it in our gym."
MSU Denver features the RMAC's leader in points per set (4.2), kills per set (3.5) and service aces per set (0.46) in
Rylee Hladky. The Roadrunners also have a deep and balanced rotation.
MSU Denver is 4-1 against ranked teams this season.
"It's fun to play another ranked team," Glenn said. "We've had a lot of that this year, so we're prepared for that. It doesn't spark any fear to play a ranked team. It's just another opportunity for us."
After a business-like road trip to South Dakota last weekend, where the Roadrunners cruised past South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State, the level of play will step up this weekend.
"I'm always going to say we haven't arrived," Glenn said. "We still have a lot to work on. Each week we're finding new things to improve upon, and that's been fun. We still have a lot of potential. We've got to stay healthy and we've got to stay focused and motivated. This group has a lot of work to do still."
