DENVER – One of the obvious centerpieces to MSU Denver's Homecoming Weekend is the athletic competitions around which the entire weekend is based.
And standing front-and-center in the must-see category is the Roadrunners volleyball team, which is ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II and has once again established itself as a national championship contender.
The Roadrunners, 13-1 overall and 6-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, return to the Auraria Event Center after another triumphant road weekend – which included a sweep at then-No. 20 Colorado Mesa – for matches Friday at 7 p.m. against South Dakota Mines and Saturday at 3 p.m. against Black Hills State.
The Saturday match is a prelude to the Roadrunners Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony, at which former women's soccer star and U.S. Paralympian Courtney Ryan, men's basketball All-American Jonathan Morse, men's soccer star Phillip Owen and women's track & field standout Breanna Hemming will be inducted.
"We're excited to be back home again after a really long road trip," MSU Denver coach
Jenny Glenn said. "It will be fun to be in front of our home crowd again. With all the activities going on around Homecoming, and to have people back for our matches, and for the Hall of Fame, it's a great opportunity to play great volleyball and enjoy the buzz around campus."
South Dakota Mines is 4-10 overall and 1-5 in the RMAC. The Hardrockers have lost five straight matches since winning in five sets at Black Hills State on Sept. 6.
Black Hills State is 2-12 and 1-5 and snapped a 10-match losing streak with a three-set win at South Dakota Mines on Sept. 20.
"Both of these teams do some things we haven't faced to this point in the season," Glenn said. "The timing of how they run their offenses is a different look compared to what we've played against, and it's perfect for where we're at. I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond.
"It's another new challenge for our team, which is learning something every week."
What many teams have learned of late is that MSU Denver has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to depth at multiple positions.
As a case in point, consider
Maddie Lindsay, a former Freshman of the Year in the Division I America East Conference. Lindsay, who somehow wasn't the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week despite leading the league in both kills per set (4.5) and hitting percentage (.500) last week, is battling for playing time with
Riley Anderson, a sophomore whose resume includes All-Tournament status at both the 2022 Colorado Premier Challenge (Division II's best regular-season tournament) and the 2021 Division II South Central Regional.
The Roadrunners' other left side, of course, is All-American first team standout
Rylee Hladky, the returning RMAC Player of the Year. Only two are in the rotation.
"We have three great left sides," Glenn said. "We're super fortunate that we can make changes based on matchups, or who is having a great night, and we don't miss a beat when we go to the bench. It's not a 1-2 punch, it's a 1-2-3 punch."
It's a similar situation at middle blocker, where
Ember Canty and
Mikayla McClinton have won multiple in-season and post-season RMAC honors for the Roadrunners. Meanwhile
Maddy Williams, in a much smaller sample size, has numbers that compare favorably to both, with a .310 hitting percentage, 1.1 kills per set and 0.71 blocks per set.
Again, only two are in the rotation.
"Based on matchups and strengths and how each matches up to our opponents, we can make decisions," Glenn said. "It's a nice problem to have when any one of them could be playing at any moment. Sometimes you aren't comfortable with what you see, and sometimes things are going well and there's no reason to change.
"I have a lot of our confidence in our bench."
Meanwhile, as Hladky leads the RMAC in kills per set (4.2) and points per set (5.2) in league matches, senior transfer
Kelsey Gordon – on the right side – is the league's most efficient hitter, with a .405 hitting percentage in RMAC play.
"I feel like we're getting into a rhythm with Kelsey and her style of play," Glenn said. "When you're new to the program, it takes a while. But in the last few weeks it has settled in, and she and (setter) Delaney (Eckhardt) are finding a good rhythm and finding situations to get the ball to her."
