New look, same expectations for the 2022 Regis Volleyball Team

Aug 22 | By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

DENVER, Colo. — A perennial power in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), the Regis University volleyball team is again poised to make a run at the RMAC crown this fall when the 2022 campaign gets underway this weekend.

The Rangers, who finished 20-8 overall and fourth in the RMAC standings a season ago, received one first-place vote and came in at No. 4 in the RMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll behind other heavy hitters MSU Denver, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa.

Regis is scheduled to get its fall season start Friday and Saturday at the Western Washington Invitational in Bellingham, Washington. The tournament is part of a challenging eight-match, non-conference schedule for Regis that is littered with guaranteed and potential matchups against AVCA National Top-25 opponents.

"All coaches know that scheduling is kind of a chess game. You may want to schedule games that are maybe more winnable to help your resume for the NCAA Tournament or conference tournament, whatever it is. Our philosophy is we want to be the best in the country and to do that you have to play against the best," said Regis head volleyball coach, Joel List. "We may trip and fall a bit, but if we don't figure that stuff out now, we don't want to be trying to figure that out within a week at the RMAC or NCAA Tournament. We want a couple months to figure that out. It's a long process in a journey and we remind our team of that. It's all about building toward where we want to be at the end."

While the Rangers are aiming to pick off a couple resume boosting victories, the first few weeks of the season will also serve as a first test for a new-look Rangers' squad that welcomed in a large, seven-player recruiting class over the summer that replace more than half of the 13-woman roster.

Regis was able to get a jump start on team building and integrating the 2022 class with the rest of the team this past May when the team enjoyed a 10-day foreign tour to Brazil. List noted the added time together, on and off the court, has already paid dividends as the team works toward finding the best combinations.

"It's going to be a process, with some bumps in the road early in the season while we're still trying to figure things out. But I think if we can keep good foresight and know that we're still learning, then I think this team is going to be pretty good," List said. "We're still in that storming phase right now where we're trying to figure out who plays together the best. We talk as coaches that our first lineup this weekend will be 'Lineup 1.0.' By the end of the season, RMAC and NCAA Tournament time, we might be on 'Lineup 3.4.' It's an exciting problem to have with all these new kids and our returners being solid."

RETURNERS
Though most of the 2022 team is new, the Rangers don't lack impact returners as they welcome back seniors Mara LeGrand, Haley Kennedy and Nadine Burbrink, as well as junior Halle Theis and sophomores Bre Skala and Hannah Kepler.

LeGrand, a two-time First Team All-RMAC setter, is coming off a 2021 campaign that saw her finish second in the RMAC with 1,140 assists. She also added 87 kills, 24 service aces and 332 digs en route to earning Second Team All-South Central Region.

Burbrink, a Second Team All-RMAC selection in 2021, shined in her first season with Regis as she led all Rangers with 18 solo blocks and was third among all RMAC players with 112 total blocks.

Kennedy completes the trio of returning seniors and is coming off a fantastic 2021 season of her own where she led Regis with 422 digs and 40 service aces as a Second Team All-RMAC defensive specialist.

"Those three had big roles for us last year and have experience in the NCAA Tournament and that helps the entire team. They have high expectations of themselves and that experience of success helps establish our culture, what we expect and what our end goals are," List said. "We also have a couple other returners like Bre Skala, Hannah Kepler and Halle Theis who had shown a lot of improvement and leadership. It's been fun to see that. And then you add in the competition of seven new players; it's what you want in the gym."

NEWCOMERS
The 2022 recruiting class was not only large in sheer numbers, but in size of student-athlete as the Rangers brought in five players six-foot or taller to add to their established veteran core.

Regis welcomes in two NCAA Division I transfers in graduate student Klaudia Sowizral, a 6'3 middle blocker previously with UConn, and a home grown talent in Denver's own Amelia Davis; a 6'5 middle blocker who spent her freshman season with East Carolina.

The Rangers also added junior college transfers in outside hitter Emma Prentice (Iowa Western CC) and a 6'2 setter in Lexie Curtis (Hillsborough CC).

"So far, with the practices we've had, Amelia has shown she can be an M1 or M2. She's driven and has high expectations for herself," List said. "Klaudia is someone we recruited as a middle and may end on the right side because she provides a big block and a good arm swing for the right side. Lexie is a setter we recruited and she has learned a lot of things very quickly. We're putting a lot on her to try and push Mara and she's developing very well. Then Emma is a very versatile player who can play outside, middle or right side so we're seeing where she can fit in the mix of things."

Solidifying to the 2022 class are three true freshmen in middle blocker Braiziah Dixon, defensive specialist Kylie Stremmel, and outside hitter Isabella Smith from nearby Littleton.

"Braiziah is a really good, young middle that I don't think she really knows how high her ceiling is yet. She has some really good middles ahead of her to learn from. We're excited that she has four years with us," List said. "Kylie is a very good platform, very calm with serve receive and I can see her pushing our back row players. And with Isabella, another local kid, she can play outside, right side and can push some of our upperclassmen, as well."

LOOKING FORWARD
The Rangers will get their anticipated 2022 season started at 10:30 a.m. (Mountain Time) Friday against California State University-Los Angeles before squaring off against tournament hosts and No. 4 ranked Western Washington at 8:30 p.m. They conclude the tournament with matches against Sonoma State (1 p.m.) and Simon Fraser (6 p.m.) on Saturday before returning home for four matches as part of the Colorado Premier Challenge, hosted by Regis and Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Regis will open the Colorado Premier Challenge — featuring 10 national ranked teams — on Friday, Sept. 2 with pool play matches against No. 14 West Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. and No. 8 Central Missouri at 6 p.m.

The full Colorado Premier Challenge schedule is available on the 2022 tournament page.

"Premier is a great tournament for parents to come to and a great tournament for local high school and club teams to come to because they get a good look at what NCAA Division II volleyball is," List said. "Some of the best teams in the country — from Texas, California, Texas, Minnesota and Florida — will be here in Denver. All of them have a little bit different playing styles and it showcases some very high-level Division II volleyball. We're hoping to see a lot of fans this fall and we're focused on making sure the environment here in (Regis Field House) is a fun one to watch volleyball."

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