COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Metropolitan State University of Denver stands as the preseason favorite in the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the league announced Thursday. The Roadrunners received 189 total points and seven first-place votes from the league’s 15 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own team.
MSU Denver enters the season having won the last three conference regular season titles and collecting a 49-1 league record along the way. Head coach Jenny Glenn guides an experienced group into 2024 with 11 student-athletes returning from last year’s squad. Seniors Riley Anderson, Delaney Eckhardt and Maddy Williams highlight the list of returners aiming for the RMAC crown in 2024.
Colorado Mesa ranks second in this year’s poll, earning six first-place votes and 183 total points. The Mavericks are hungry for the conference crown, last claiming the title in the spring 2020 season. The All-America and award-winning trio of Sydney Leffler, Allison Waller and Sabrina VanDeList anchor the CMU roster. Together, these three student-athletes combined for 33.5% of CMU kills, 92.6% of assists and 49.6% of aces in 2023.
After winning the conference tournament title last season, Regis received the final two first-place votes and 174 total points. Head coach Joel List will look to his eight underclassmen to produce results, with senior middle blocker Amelia Davis as the only returning All-RMAC honoree from 2023.
South Dakota Mines tallied 143 points, just ahead of Colorado State University Pueblo’s 139 points to fill out the top five.
Colorado School of Mines earned 137 points to occupy sixth place, while Colorado Christian followed in seventh with 126 points. Chadron State received 96 points, good for eighth place, while Fort Lewis (86 points) and Westminster (82 points) round out the top 10 institutions in the poll.
University of Colorado Colorado Springs received 75 points, followed by Adams State (56 points), Western Colorado (40 points), Black Hills State (26 points), and New Mexico Highlands (23 points), to complete the preseason coaches' poll.
The 2024 season commences in September, with five institutions opening play on Thursday, Sept. 5, while the remaining teams start on Friday, Sept. 6. Conference play begins on Friday, Sept. 20, leading up to the regular season finale on Saturday, Nov. 16. The quest for postseason glory begins with the 2024 RMAC Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and concludes on Saturday, Nov. 23.
All games hosted by RMAC institutions during the season can be seen live on the
RMAC Network.