DENVER – A highly-ranked team with national championship aspirations.
 
It's nothing new for the MSU Denver volleyball program, ranked No. 3 in the AVCA Division II preseason poll.
 
"Most of the team has been in this position and is used to it and isn't scared of it," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "We have to be patient with the process and realize that whatever happens in these next couple of weeks, it doesn't change our goals. We have the confidence to know that we should go in, play hard, and win, while building on the success from the past. We're not starting from scratch."
 
The Roadrunners will hit the ground running in 2023, playing three nationally-ranked teams this weekend in the season-opening Yotes Classic Showcase, and then turning around to play potentially four more ranked teams the following weekend in the Colorado Premier Challenge that they co-host with Regis.
 
This weekend in San Bernardino, Calif., includes a 3:30 p.m. MDT match Thursday against Central Washington (merely receiving votes in the preseason poll), followed by a 1 p.m. MDT match Friday against No. 9 Cal State Los Angeles and a deadly Saturday doubleheader against 15^th-ranked Western Washington (3:30 p.m. MDT) and 19^th-ranked host Cal State San Bernardino (8:30 p.m. MDT), the 2019 national champions.
 
MSU Denver could potentially – but definitely rather wouldn't – have a losing record after two weeks and wouldn't be out of the national-championship conversation.
 
"We're playing the toughest preseason that we've ever played," Glenn said. "One of the things we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to be challenged as often as we possibly can. We decided to go big the first couple of weekends – we also go big at the Premier every year. When you lose you learn a lot. And if you win in a five-set match you're going to learn more than you would in a three-set sweep. We want to put ourselves in tough situations as often as possible, and we're going to see that in our first few weekends."
 
One thing is for sure – there's no way MSU Denver will go 18-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play for the third straight season.
 
That's because there are only 14 league matches this season.
 
The 15 RMAC teams will use the additional four matches to play non-conference games against league opponents who finished at a similar level last season, thus boosting to the top teams' chances for at-large qualification and higher seedings for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
"The coaches really wanted a single round-robin to determine our conference champion," Glenn said. "We didn't feel like it was equitable when teams were playing different teams more than once. That sparked the conversation, and then it turned into 'how can we really elevate our conference?' Looking at that, if similarly-matched teams are playing each other, they're both getting better.
 
"The top of our conference is really strong. But when you put all the teams together, our conference's RPI isn't as strong."
 
A trip to the NCAA Tournament would be the 23^rd in a row for MSU Denver, one of the longest streaks in Division II. The Roadrunners were 30-2 overall last season, losing only to the teams that played in the national championship, including a second-straight homecourt loss to West Texas A&M (the 2022 national champion) in the South Central Regional final.
 
The Roadrunners, who were ranked No. 1 for five weeks in 2021 and for four weeks last season, have also won an RMAC record 40 straight regular-season league matches as well as 51 of their last 52 in the regular season matches against league foes.
 
Three other RMAC teams are in the preseason top 25, and MSU Denver will play all of them twice.
 
"It's going to be interesting," Glenn said. "The top teams are always good. Some teams lost more than others, but as a whole everybody returns quite a bit. It's going to be tough at the top again."
 
Back for her senior season is two-time All-America first team selection Rylee Hladky, the outside hitter who would need to average 13.9 kills per match over 30 matches (assuming MSU Denver plays at least four postseason matches, which it has in all seven of Glenn's seasons as head coach) to become the program's all-time kills leader.
 
"Her last year is all about relationships," Glenn said. "And that's what I love about her. She's a fierce competitor, but it's not all about volleyball at the end of the day. I think she just wants to enjoy this season with players and coaches. She continues to become a leader, and she contributes in ways that the stats sheet doesn't show."
 
Meanwhile, Riley Anderson has developed from understudy to All-American (third team) in her own right and averaged 3.1 kills per set last season while often saving her best for the biggest matches.
 
"Her range has increased tremendously in the last year," Glenn said. "She used to be a one-hit wonder with her favorite shot, but now she has every shot in the book. She also played a lot of six rotations in the spring, and her ability to read the ball is very good. She's growing her entire game."
 
The Roadrunners are also two deep at both middle blocker and setter in their 6-2 rotation.
 
Middle blockers Ember Canty and Mikayla McClinton have made multiple appearances on All-RMAC teams, ranging from first team to honorable mention, while setters Amela Qershia and Delaney Eckhardt were both All-RMAC honorable mention last year – no easy feat considering they share duties, cutting into their individual stats but contributing to the team being able to put up and outstanding block.
 
MSU Denver does have a couple of holes to fill, though. Both right-side hitters – Kaylee Corsentino and Kelsey Gordon – were All-America honorable mention choices, and libero Ashlyn Cianciulli was underrated as a two-time All-RMAC second team selection.
 
Maddy Williams – frequently an off-the-bench spark in the middle the past two seasons – and redshirt freshman Skyler Michael are first up on the right side.
 
"Our right-side crew is just very different from what it has been the last two years," Glenn said. "We're still scoring from there, it just looks different than it has. I really think we have some versatility there that can make it tough on our opponent. We're doing a really good job from a blocking standpoint. Both are new to the position and are growing quickly and learning the intricacies of the position."
 
Behind them, Abbie McCrimmon played regularly in the back row last season and played libero in the spring. Freshman Autumn Gibbs is also in the mix.
 
"Setters and liberos stabilize your team," Glenn said. "They're taking most of the first and second contacts. It just takes some time to figure out how the new position plays. Ashlyn had a specific style and you kind of knew what's inside her range and what's outside of her range. Abbie is a completely different player, as is Autumn. It just takes time."
 
This team will likely continue to develop as the season progresses, but Glenn declared her team ready to roll earlier this week.
 
"It's early," she said. "We have a lot of veteran players, but we also have five freshmen. Just getting back in and seeing how this group is going to mesh, there's always going to be kinks early in the season. But it's coming. I like the last couple of days of practice we've had after having some high-level scrimmages last weekend."
 
And as for expectations, that comes with the territory.
 
"I don't know that it's ever easy," Glenn said. "It's always something. You have to grow comfortable with having a target on your back and grow comfortable with the expectation. I think we've gotten more accustomed to that."