DENVER – It has been a somewhat unusual season for the eighth-ranked MSU Denver volleyball team.
 
But, despite a couple of five-set losses to top-10 teams, a run of injuries to its star player, the end of the program's record-setting conference win streak and a disappointing home loss last week, everything the team wants is still out there.
 
"We're still in good position to win the conference," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "We still have good teams to get through – it won't be easy. But it's still possible, which is what we want. At this point we don't have to rely on someone else losing. It's within our hands and I have a lot of confidence in our team to step up in those moments."
 
The Roadrunners, 16-5 overall and 8-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, do indeed control their own destiny. And the march to the finish includes a home match Friday at 6 p.m. against UCCS (7-15, 5-5) and a Saturday road match at No. 12 Regis.
 
But, before getting a chance at redemption against the Roadrunners, MSU Denver most focus first on UCCS.
 
"It's important that we prepare well for Friday," Glenn said. "They just played Regis and lost in three sets, but the scores were pretty close. UCCS plays a different style. They set a higher ball from an offensive standpoint, so we need to make sure we're adjusting our timing early and finding our rhythm defensively."
 
Oh by the way it was Regis that stunned the Roadrunners with a 3-0 sweep last week. The Rangers are 17-5 overall and 9-1 in the RMAC after beating UCCS earlier this week.
 
"I'm excited that we get another chance against Regis," Glenn said. "I highly doubt it's the last time we'll see each other this year (RMAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament matchups are possible), but we weren't quite ourselves on Thursday. They provide a different matchup for us that we need to make better adjustments against. We're looking forward to having the chance to play them again."
 
MSU Denver bounced back from its loss to the Rangers with as impressive of a defensive performance that has been seen in the RMAC in a decade.
 
The Roadrunners had a program rally-scoring era record 22 blocks – the most by an RMAC team since at least 2012 – and Ember Canty had a program rally-scoring era record 13 blocks (one solo) – the most by an RMAC player since 2018 – in a 3-1 win over No. 11 Colorado Mesa.
 
Somehow the RMAC's Player of the Week committee missed it, however, while awarding Defensive Player of the Week to a Colorado Mesa player who had half as many blocks as Canty and Offensive Player of the Week to a Mesa player who had 11 hitting errors.
 
What can't be ignored, though, is Canty's outstanding season. She's fifth in the country with an RMAC-best 1.36 blocks per set and has an RMAC-leading .451 hitting percentage in league matches.
 
"I'm so excited for Ember," Glenn said. "In her sixth season, that's what you want. She's playing more freely and with more confidence than she has in her entire career. You see her working her tail off in the middle, going pin to pin to get those blocks, but you're also seeing her experience and IQ for the game – it's probably one of the highest we've ever had.
 
"She's one of those players who always knows what's about to happen, and she communicates that with her teammates. She takes care of us on the court, and she takes care of us off the court. She has a really big capacity to handle a lot at once. When you can do that and you're a middle, you can process information and respond. And that's why we're seeing huge block numbers. Her pin blockers are doing a good job of turning balls back, too, when she's up. I think it's a pretty scary block when you get both of them up on time."
 
MSU Denver focused on defense last week as it attempted to overcome a loss at CSU Pueblo, and it showed up in more than just blocking.
 
Libero Abbie McCrimmon is averaging an RMAC-best 4.8 digs per set in league play.
 
"Our defense as a whole last week, even though we dropped the Regis match, I was pleased with," Glenn said. "We made a huge jump with our defensive effort and intent. I didn't think we played great defense the previous week and we trained on it a lot and played a lot tougher on the defensive side.
 
"Abbie had a great week last week. She's settled into that role as our libero. It's a big switch from DS (defensive specialist) to libero from a load standpoint."
 
Meanwhile, right-side hitters Maddy Williams and Skyler Michael were potent against Mesa, and Rylee Hladky is working back up to full speed on the left, where Riley Anderson has turned into one of the league's best players.
 
"Our offense, ironically, is still trying to find its rhythm," Glenn said. "We're making small tweaks, changing a couple of things in our lineup. We're still growing in that area, but I like the trajectory that we're on."