DENVER – MSU Denver has held 14 straight opponents to hitting percentages below .200.
 
MSU Denver has hit above .200 in 12 of its last 14 matches, too.
 
MSU Denver has won 14 straight matches.
 
"We've been very successful on both sides of the ball, which is great," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "Efficient offense and low hitting percentage on defense, so we're not one-sided."
 
Keep an eye on the hitting percentages as the second-ranked Roadrunners – and they hope a nice contingent of their fans – make the 4 ½-mile drive over to face 18^th-ranked Regis in a 3 p.m. match Saturday at the Regis Field House. The contest will have Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship implications as will affect regional and national rankings.
 
"The hitting numbers will be challenged this week," Glenn said.
 
MSU Denver (20-1 overall, 13-0 RMAC) ranks third in NCAA Division II in hitting percentage at .293, buoyed by an astounding .344 over the past eight matches.
 
The Roadrunners are also eighth nationally in lowest opponent hitting percentage (.113), which is buoyed by a front wall that ranks fifth in the country with 2.53 blocks per set.
 
Regis (15-5, 11-1) ranks fourth in the RMAC with a .252 hitting percentage and second in opponent hitting percentage at .142. Those figures are good for 27^th and 36, respectively, in Division II. The Rangers are third in the RMAC and 28^th in the country with 2.31 blocks per set.
 
The Rangers started slowly at 1-4, but won their final three matches against ranked teams at the Colorado Premier and then swept then-No. 15 Colorado School of Mines to open league play. Eventually, the Rangers' 13-match winning streak came to an end when they were swept at Mines in the return match – six days after MSU Denver escaped Mines with a five-set win.
 
"Regis is very well-coached and is always very tactical and is a feisty defensive team," Glenn said. "It's always a competitive match and you have to work hard to score against them."
 
Last year at the Auraria Event Center, MSU Denver rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the final two sets – including 22-20 in the fifth – when the Roadrunners fought off one match point and finally put away the Rangers on the eighth match point of the night.
 
"It's a fun, cross-town rivalry," Glenn said.  We co-host the Premier together and our programs are tight. We've played in their gym pretty often, so it doesn't feel too foreign. We both have a lot of respect for one another, and that makes it a fun match as well."
 
Last year's win was key to an 18-0 run through the RMAC regular season for MSU Denver, and is part of what is now a 35-match regular-season conference winning streak – five short of the league record and the second longest in the history of the RMAC.
 
The Roadrunners can also reflect on another milestone reached Tuesday night in a 3-0 sweep at Colorado Christian.
 
MSU Denver, according to NCAA records, became the eighth Division II team with 1,200 all-time victories. The Roadrunners are 1,200-589-3 for a .670 winning percentage.
 
"It really doesn't surprise me because of the legacy of Roadrunner volleyball," said Glenn, who is 154-38 with the Roadrunners, including a staggering 107-8 in league play. "It's happened over a long period of time, and it's special that it's happened at a non-traditional institution. But from trailblazers like (first coach) Pat Johnson on, people invested so much in this program that it set an incredible foundation that has allowed teams to win year after year after year.
 
"It's an incredible feat that we draw upon. We talk about our legacy and leaving the jersey in a better place and being a good steward of the program for the alumni who have gone before us."