DENVER – If there was any gloom and doom around the Regis volleyball program back in January, it should have long since dissipated.
 
The Rangers, who lost nearly all of their regular rotation players from last year's NCAA Division II national semifinalists, lost their first two matches of the season on Jan. 24.
 
One was to Colorado Mesa which, it turns out, is awfully good. The Mavericks are now ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II after beating MSU Denver 3-1 last week. The Rangers' other loss was in five sets to a solid CSU-Pueblo team.
 
Since then, Regis has won eight straight matches heading into a non-conference showdown with No. 4 MSU Denver. Regis is ranked No. 21.
 
"Regis is a well-coached team with a lot of talent," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "When you put those components together, you have a team that you always have to respect. They'll play us hard, and our girls love this matchup.
 
"They turned over nearly their entire starting lineup, so it was going to take some time for them. They're playing much better now that they have some time together."
 
The Regis match was supposed to kick off the weekend, but with weather approaching, a just-as-important-if-not-more Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match against Chadron State has been moved up from Saturday to Thursday at 6 p.m.
 
MSU Denver is 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the RMAC and still is holding out hoping of getting in for a share of the RMAC regular-season title if it gets help elsewhere.
 
Chadron is 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the RMAC, but beat Black Hills State when the Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 23 and lost to Colorado Mesa 3-1, just like MSU Denver.
 
"They are extremely feisty," Glenn said. "They dig a lot of balls. It will be difficult to score on them."
 
Glenn said her team is bouncing back after the disappointment of losing at Colorado Mesa.
 
"We got challenged last week, and we didn't really like how we responded to that challenge," she said. "We've focused on learning how to respond to uncomfortable situations, and we've done well with that. This group is eager for another opportunity to be in a similar situation."