Volleyball

DU Volleyball Enters Season Looking to Compete for Conference Championship

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DU women’s volleyball takes to the floor this weekend to open their season at the Wildcat Invitational against Utah Tech and host Weber State in Ogden, Utah. Their theme, “How good can we be?” gets early answers in tournament play this weekend.

Following a late change to the coaching staff last season, the Pioneers ended up in a surprising tie for first place during the conference regular season during the 2023 campaign. This off-season was much less turbulent and head coach Megan Pendergast and her assistant head coach Zach Hendrickson have had time to recruit to their system and implement their own coaching and playing style.

Last season, Denver finished 12-4 in Summit League play and 9-0 at home in conference play. However, low expectations heading into last season have flipped this campaign to higher expectations for a team that limped into conference play and found their footing under Pendergast a season ago. Ultimately, Denver swept South Dakota State in the Summit League conference tournament but fell to Omaha 3-2 to extinguish their post-season tournament hopes.

Denver Volleyball will roll out a solid non-conference schedule. Denver hits the floor with five new freshmen along with grad students and seniors who will provide needed experience and continuity. The question remains – How good can they be this season?

DU opens with six road matches to begin the season before classes begin. Their marquee non-conference match will be against TCU at the Horned Frog Invitational on September 20th. When conference play begins, expect DU’s main rivals to be Omaha, selected first in the Summit League coaches’ poll and the University of South Dakota – selected third behind DU.

Denver’s strength is on the front line with outside hitter Cassi Davis (346 kills, 4.30 ppg.) and middle blocker Molly Mirabelli (179 kills, 2.48 ppg.) along with rapidly improving outside hitter Ava Reyolds (189 kills, 2.34 ppg.). Junior libero Alayna Finucan will anchor the defense. She had 157 digs/1.65 ppg. last season but the team will need to replace the graduation of starting libero Gianna Bartalo (373 digs) and setter Briley Decker (167 digs.) with a mix of new and returning players.

Denver should roll to their thirteenth consecutive winning season and compete for the conference title but can they return to the top step? As always, the key will be integrating the new players onto the squad and operating at peak efficiency at the Summit League Tournament on November 24-26 in Kansas City.

Feature Photo: Courtesy of Denver Athletics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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