No. 18 ranked Rangers poised to take next step in 2023

Aug 28 | By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University volleyball team has practiced and prepared with a sense of urgency since the final whistle of the 2022 season.

Armed with experience and talent that rivals Division II's best, the Rangers are focused on the task at hand for the 2023 campaign, which is set to get underway this Thursday-Saturday at the Yotes Classic Showcase in San Bernardino.

The Rangers underwent a major overhaul prior to the start of the 2022 season, signing seven new players on the 13-woman roster. The new-look Rangers went on to finish 22-8 overall, advanced to the RMAC Tournament title game, and earned the program's ninth trip to the NCAA Division II South Central Tournament in the past 10 years.

While the success and accolades in 2022 were celebrated, the 2023 Regis Rangers are now a seasoned and synchronized squad eager to take that next step on the national stage.

"We have a very experienced team and the advantage now is that we've been able to build some real good relationships between the players and players with the coaches," said Regis head coach, Joel List. "We can have those serious talks about, 'How do we fix something that goes wrong?' and be honest with each other. It takes a long time to develop trust and it's something we're prideful with our program. I think when bumps in the road, hurdles or setbacks happen, we're going to be able to deal with those at a much more mature level."

RETURNERS
A big reason for the optimism inside the Regis Fieldhouse is the fact the Rangers did not lose a single player to graduation from the 2022 squad and are set to welcome back 11 players who saw significant court time last fall.

Two of those returners include Second Team All-American middle blocker Amelia Davis and All-American Honorable Mention setter, Mara LeGrand.

Davis shined during her first fall with Regis after transferring in from East Carolina, leading all RMAC players with 114 total blocks and finishing 6^th in the conference with 329 kills on a .335 attacking percentage.

"Everything was new for her last year. She has so many advantages with her height and she's extremely competitive. She wants to be the best and she does things off the court that say the same thing," List said of Davis. "She's one of many huge assets returning to our team this year and we're excited to see how she continues to get better."

LeGrand, a three-time First Team All-RMAC winner, added the latest chapter to her decorated time at Regis. She earned All-American honors for a second consecutive season after setting career highs in assists (1,176) and kills (121). Additionally, led all RMAC setters in digs, kills and total blocks (62) during the 2022 regular season.

The maestro of the Regis offense has plenty of hitters to chose between as, in addition to Davis, Regis returns a trio of Second Team All-RMAC players in graduate student right-side hitter Klaudia Sowizral, graduate student middle blocker Nadine Burbrink and senior outside hitter Halle Theis.

Burbrink ranked second on the team in blocks (91.0) and third in kills (283), while Theis (team leader in kills with 347) and Sowizral (223 kills) carved out their roles at the pins.

"Halle has really opened her toolbox, so to speak, on what she can do to score. She worked on that during the spring and summer and it has shown these first couple weeks of practice," List said. "Mara is very experience and has been delivering the ball consistently. And Klaudia, a middle turned right side hitter for us last year, has found a great role for us there."

The Rangers' depth doesn't stop there as they also bring back junior outside hitter Hannah Kepler (185 kills), the talented defensive specialist tandem of Haley Kennedy (495 digs) and Bre Skala (194 digs), and the sophomore duo of Isabella Smith and Braiziah Dixon; each of whom played in 19 matches as true freshmen in 2022.

NEWCOMERS
Joining the fold for the Rangers this fall are five true freshmen in setter/right side Kayli Starkey, setter Elie King, middle blocker Grace Demmel, middle blocker Lindsey Cure and defensive specialist Giselle Cazares.

The all-freshman class provides the Rangers with a unique group of young, talented and versatile players who could push to see court time as early as this fall.

"I think we had added at least one transfer every year I've been here until this class, so it's exciting to get five freshmen who we'll be able to train with us for four years," List said. "When we bring these freshmen in, they are behind great players. But I think that is the ideal scenario for a coach when you're trying to build something that lasts. They'll come in and learn, push our returning players, and they may see some playing time."

LOOKING FORWARD
The Rangers earned one first-place vote and came in at No. 2 in the RMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll, released by the conference back on August 15, and are one of five South Central Regional teams to be nationally ranked in the AVCA Preseason Top-25.

No. 18 Regis is joined by No. 22 Colorado School of Mines, No. 21 Colorado Mesa, No. 3 MSU Denver and No. 1 ranked West Texas A&M, the defending Division II national champions.

"It's really exciting. (The RMAC) is becoming one of the premier Division II volleyball conferences and regions in the country when you look at West Texas A&M winning the national championship last year," List said. "It is great to have that competition and we're fortunate to host the Colorado Premier Challenge, where we bring a lot of these teams and battle it out early in the season."

Regis and MSU Denver will again co-host the annual Colorado Premier Challenge tournament on Sept. 8-9; a 12-team tournament consisting of eight teams ranked inside the Top-25 with the other four teams all receiving votes.

The tournament is part of another eight-match gauntlet the Rangers have put together during non-conference play, beginning with this weekend's trip out to San Bernardino where Regis is set to square off against No. 15 Western Washington, No. 9 Cal State LA, No. 19 CSU San Bernardino and (RV) Central Washington.

It's a grueling start by design. How the Rangers handle adverse situations and crucial moments against the country's toughest foes is what List said will be crucial to the Rangers reaching their ultimate goal of competing late into the national tournament come December.

"I think the team we had last year was still trying to get to know each other. When it comes down to crunch time, when points matter the most, I don't think we were quite ready to figure out how to handle it at that time," List said. "Because of those experiences, now we know how we reacted. We took all spring and summer to figure out how to adjust the way we reacted. I think that was the biggest part; how we handled that pressure at the time. We've tried to create a schedule that will hopefully emulate that pressure. We're playing really good teams out in California and then we host (Premier Challenge) and face really good teams there. Hopefully, we have that same pressure because we now know how to handle it a little bit differently."

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