RAPID CITY, S.D. – For the second straight year, MSU Denver outside hitter
Rylee Hladky has been named the D2CAA South Central Regional Player of the Year.
Hladky is the only representative on the All-South Central Region first team from MSU Denver, the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II. However, middle blocker
Mikayla McClinton and right-side hitter Kelsey Gordon earned second-team honors.
The team is selected in voting by sports information directors from the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conferences.
Hladky, a 2021 All-America first team selection, is the two-time RMAC Player of the Year (2021, 2022) and a three-time All-RMAC first team pick (she also made the second team in 2019). Most recently, she was the most valuable player of the 2022 RMAC Tournament. She was also a 2021 CoSIDA (CSC) All-America first team selection.
She leads the RMAC in points per set (4.3), ranks second in kills per set (3.6), and fifth in aces per set (0.4). A six-rotation player, she leads MSU Denver in service receptions (539), is second with a .961 reception percentage, is second in digs per set (2.7), and ranks fourth with 0.6 blocks per set.
She became the seventh player in program history with 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs earlier this season, and she ranks 16th among active Division II players with 140 career digs, and 24th with 1,210 digs.
Gordon, a graduate transfer from Washburn (Kan.), made the All-RMAC first team this season. Last year she was All-America honorable mention (AVCA), and All-Central Region first team (AVCA), was a member of the NCAA National Championship All-Tournament team, the Central Region All-Tournament team and was All-MIAA first team while leading Washburn to a national runner-up finish. She has 984 career kills and ranks sixth in the RMAC in hitting percentage (.324).
McClinton is a two-time All-RMAC second team selection. During MSU Denver's 18-0 run through regular-season RMAC play, she led the league with 1.3 blocks per set. She helps lead an MSU Denver block that is 10th nationally with 2.5 blocks per set and defensive unit that ranks seventh in Division II with a .119 opponent hitting percentage. She ranks eighth in MSU Denver program history with 291 career block assists.
