DENVER – One of the top Division II conference tennis tournaments is set to start, and MSU Denver is looking to make some noise.
 
The Roadrunners will take part in their second PacWest Tournament as an affiliate member of the league from Wednesday through Saturday in Surprise, Ariz.
 
The short-handed Roadrunners' women have earned the 11^th seed and will play sixth-seeded Academy of Art (Calif.) in a 10 a.m. first-round dual Wednesday at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club. The winner faces Biola (Calif.) in a quarterfinal matchup Thursday at 2 p.m., with the loser dropping into a consolation matchup Thursday at 2.
 
The men's draw opens Thursday and the 63^rd-ranked Roadrunners face 15^th-ranked Azusa Pacific (Calif.) at 10 a.m.
 
A win would seem to put the Roadrunners on course for a trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament as one of the top four teams in the PacWest. Despite being the tournament's seventh seed, MSU Denver is ranked fourth in the West Region (which is comprised only of PacWest teams) and four teams advance to the regional.
 
A loss would put MSU Denver in a bit more difficult position since it could finish no higher than fifth.
 
"We haven't really had an in-depth conversation with either of our teams about anything beyond who we are playing first," MSU Denver coach Josh Graetz said. "The focus for the guys should only be on Azusa."
 
The Roadrunners women are playing with only five players due to injuries and will be forced to forfeit one singles match and will have to sweep two doubles matches to get the doubles point.
 
"We've done it the majority of the year," Graetz said. "So we just look at as another match, nothing different than any of the other matches. The pressure is on your opponent to beat you in that situation."
 
Both teams are riding hot streaks. The men have won five straight to improve to 13-3, while the women have won seven in a row and are now 12-8.
 
For the men, Jeanloup Auzias is 13-6 while playing primarily at No. 1, Carlos Pinedo is 15-5 primarily at No. 2, Alejandro Jimenez is 14-3 while working his way up the lineup from No. 6 to No. 2, and Andy Caruana is 17-4 and has won 11 straight while moving up from No. 6 to No. 3.
 
They'll be facing an Azusa Pacific team that is 16-4 on the season.
 
For the women, Marie Cool has won six seven in a row to improve to 13-11 while moving up from No. 5 to No. 3, Gala Castello has won six in a row and is 9-7 while playing Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and Monica Guarin has won six straight to improve to 14-8 playing at Nos. 5 and 6.
 
The Academy of Art women are 8-5.
 
Due to its geographic location and status as an affiliate member, MSU Denver is frequently forced to play multiple duals on consecutive days on the road. While that is a disadvantage during the regular season, the Roadrunners are looking to turn that into an advantage in Arizona.
 
"Every school is traveling to Arizona," Graetz said. "So the travel disadvantage isn't a thing for the conference tournament. And I think that helps us, because we travel a lot and play four matches in four days – and no other school does that besides us and (Colorado) Mesa. We've played four matches in four days twice already."