Nike Volleyball Camp at MSU Denver

• 2022 RMAC Coach of the Year
• 2022 RMAC Champions
• 2021 RMAC Champions
• 2021 Mile High Sports College Coach of the Year
• 2021 AVCA South Central Region Coach of the Year
• 2021 RMAC Coach of the Year
• 2016 AVCA South Central Region Coach of the Year
• 2016 RMAC Coach of the Year
• 2016 RMAC regular season champions

Jenny Glenn took MSU Denver to the pinnacle of Division II volleyball in 2021, as the Roadrunners spent five weeks at No. 1 in the AVCA national poll, played host to the South Central Regional as the No. 1 seed, and finished with a program best final ranking of No. 3. For the second time in her six seasons as head coach, Glenn led the Roadrunners through an 18-0 march to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season title, and that was only part a 24-match winning streak. The Roadrunners also extended a school-record home winning streak to 21 matches. For the second time, Glenn was named the American Volleyball Coaches' Association's South Central Coach of the Year as well as the RMAC Coach of the Year, and she was also named the College Coach of the Year by Mile High Sports magazine. The Roadrunners' season ended at 28-4 after a five-set loss to West Texas A&M in the regional final. The Roadrunners were named the Team of the Year by the Sportswomen of Colorado.

But 2021 was merely an extension to Glenn's incredible run at MSU Denver.

She inherited a program on a 16-year roll and took it to another level in 2016 -- leading MSU Denver to an undefeated record in RMAC play -- and the Roadrunners haven't broken stride since. Glenn has extended the Roadrunners' streak of consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament appearances to 21 while guiding MSU Denver to six straight berths in the RMAC Tournament's championship match.

Glenn enters her seventh year as the Roadrunners' head coach in 2022 with a six-year record of 136-38 and a stunning 94-8 mark in RMAC regular-season play. Her overall winning percentage of .782 and conference winning percentage of .922 are the best in the program's history.

The 2021 season started strong as the Roadrunners went 2-2 at the Western Washington Invitational, losing despite holding match points in both of their defeats. But things moved to another level the following week as MSU Denver defeated three ranked teams -- including No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) -- en route to its first Colorado Premier Challenge championship since 2003. That moved the Roadrunners up to No. 6 in the national poll and touched off the historic 24-match winning streak, the program's longest since a 37-match win streak was snapped in 1978. The Roadrunners, who had been ranked No. 2 for the three weeks, finally took over the top spot in the AVCA poll released Oct. 18. After that, the Roadrunners spent five more weeks at No. 1, and twice received 46 of the 47 first-place votes. The winning streak finally came to an end in a five-set loss to No. 10 Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC Tournament final, but the Roadrunners were still the South Central Regional host and won twice -- including a 3-1 victory over No. 11 Angelo State (Texas) to reach the NCAA's round of 16. Against West Texas A&M, MSU Denver won the first two sets and were five points away from sweeping the Lady Buffs at 20-20 in the third before falling victim to a red-hot team.

Multiple MSU Denver players received individual honors, but perhaps no player in program history hauled in more hardware than outside hitter Rylee Hladky. Hladky was named to the All-America first team by the AVCA and D2CCA as well earning Academic All-America first team from CoSIDA. She was named to the All-South Central Region first team by both the AVCA and D2CCA while earning regional player of the year from the latter organization. She was also Academic All-District 6. At the RMAC level, Hladky was the RMAC's Player of the Year and Academic Player of the Year as well as earning the RMAC's Summit Award (highest GPA of any player at the conference tournament site). Avaline Lai earned All-America second team recognition from the AVCA, was on both all-region first teams, and earned her second career National Player of the Week honor after winning most valuable player at the Coloraado Premier Challenge. Hladky and Lai were joined on the All-RMAC first team by both outside hitter Alexis Benda and middle blocker Ember Canty, while libero Ashlyn Cianciulli earned second-team honors and three others -- middle blocker Mikayla McClinton and setters Jessa Megenhardt and Amela Qershia -- were on the league's honorable mention list. Megenhardt joined Hladky as an Academic All-District 6 selection, and those two were named to the Academic All-RMAC first team while 12 other Roadrunners made the league's Academic honor roll.

With the 2020 season pushed back to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Glenn was able to keep her team's focus razor-sharp as the Roadrunners raced out to an 11-0 start, including a convincing four-set win over returning national runner-up and preseason No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney. MSU Denver eventually reached No. 3 in the national rankings, matching the program's high-water mark since being ranked No. 2 during the 2003 season, before settling for a final ranking of No. 4 that matched the program's best-ever season-ending ranking achieved in 1994. MSU Denver finished 15-2 overall and placed second in the RMAC regular season at 11-1. Its only losses were at then-No. 4 Colorado Mesa in four sets and against then-No. 15 Colorado School of Mines in four sets at the RMAC Tournament final played in Grand Junction, Colo. There was no NCAA Tournament due to COVID-19.

Individual awards were prolific: Kayla White, Hladky and Lai all earned All-RMAC first team recognition, with Canty and McClinton each drawing second-team nods and setters Megenhardt and Joli Sadler earning honorable mention. White was the RMAC's Academic Player of the Year and was joined on the Academic All-RMAC team by Hladky, Megenhardt and Sadler. White and Hladky were CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 selections. Lai was the AVCA National Player of the Week for her performance against Nebraska-Kearney. White and Lai made the RMAC All-Tournament team.

MSU Denver ranked eighth nationally in hitting percentage (.260), ninth in kills per set (14.2), ninth in assists per set (13.1) and 10th in service aces (118), while also ranking in the national top 20 in opponent hitting percentage, assists, blocks per set, aces per set, total blocks and kills. The Roadrunners ranked first or second in the RMAC in all 10 of those categories.

The 2019 season looked like a rebuilding year on paper, but Glenn and the Roadrunners had other ideas as they started the season 4-0, upset No. 1 defending national champion Tampa (Fla.) while playing three other close matches against nationally ranked teams at the Colorado Premier Challenge, and later defeated No. 12 Regis on the road while rolling to a 16-2 record for second place in the RMAC. Then MSU Denver reached the RMAC Tournament championship match for the fourth consecutive season. Despite the Roadrunners' success, they were only the No. 8 seed for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional, but they fought host Regis to the end in a thrilling five-set match to end the season at 23-8. Regis went on to reach the national semifinals.

During the season, sophomore right-side hitter Lai emerged as an AVCA All-America honorable mention selection who also receiving All-South Central Region and All-RMAC first team honors. Also earning All-RMAC first team was middle blocker Alyssa Kelling, while Hladky and White were each All-RMAC second team picks. Both Hladky and White were named to the RMAC's All-Tournament team.

The Roadrunners continued their sterling off-the-court success as well, compiling a 3.73 team grade-point average. Kelling and Megenhardt were named the RMAC's Co-Academic Players of the Year, and White joined them on the Academic All-RMAC first team. White earned the RMAC's Summit Award for having the highest GPA of any student-athlete to reach the tournament semifinals.

Glenn's Roadrunners finished the 2018 season with a 21-10 record and a 15-3 mark in RMAC play as part of their 19th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. MSU Denver tied for third in the RMAC regular season, then reached the championship match of the RMAC Tournament. The Roadrunners fell to Colorado School of Mines in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Taylor Duryea and Santaisha Sturges earned All-America honorable mentions and made AVCA all-region, while Duryea made all-region second team (D2CCA). Each was named to the All-RMAC first team and RMAC All-Tournament team, while Kelling and Stephanie Laraway, who both earned RMAC All-Academic honors, both made the All-RMAC second team.

Glenn led the Roadrunners to a 22-9 overall record and a 16-2 league finish for third place in the RMAC in 2017. MSU Denver upset No. 17 Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC tournament semifinals and advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament for the 18th consecutive season. The Roadrunners defeated Texas A&M-Commerce in a five-set first-round match before losing to West Texas A&M in the second round.

Sturges earned All-RMAC first team, all-region first team and All-American second team honors. Laraway joined Sturges on the All-RMAC first team, while Vasati Fiatoa, Alyssa Svalberg and Duryea all earned second-team All-RMAC.

Glenn's first Roadrunners team in 2016 went 27-5 overall and a perfect 18-0 in the RMAC regular season, the Roadrunners’ first undefeated RMAC regular season in program history. It was also just the second unbeaten conference season of any kind in school history. Glenn was named 2016 RMAC Coach of the Year, and senior Brandi Torr was selected 2016 RMAC player of the year and setter of the year. Torr (first team) and Michaela Smith (third team) received All-American recognition, while Ryan Hoerdemann joined those two as a first-team All-RMAC pick.

After falling to Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC championship match, the team received the second seed in the South Central Regional for the NCAA Division II volleyball tournament. The Roadrunners advanced to the Sweet 16 with two wins before losing to 12th-ranked host Angelo State (Texas) in the regional championship match.

Glenn was also named coach of the year for the South Central Region.

Glenn came to MSU Denver from Northern Colorado, where she had coached for nine seasons. In 2012, Glenn was promoted to associate head coach from assistant coach. During her tenure at Northern Colorado, she helped lead the Bears to the NCAA tournament four times: 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Northern Colorado had five 20-win seasons in those nine years. Glenn twice served as the interim head coach, in 2013 and 2015, during the head coach's maternity leave. She was also the recruiting coordinator and academic success liaison at Northern Colorado and helped the team achieve a 3.3 GPA. In 2014, Glenn served as an assistant coach on the USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team.

Prior to her stint at Northern Colorado, Glenn was the head coach for the 18 National Team at Sportsbridge Volleyball Club in Centennial, Colo. Glenn also served as the head coach for the 17-1 team at Crush Volleyball Club in Centennial, which she turned into a 2006 Junior National Qualifier. She was also an assistant coach during the 2002-03 season at Grandview High School in Aurora, Colo.

Glenn played collegiately at Truman State (Mo.), where she was a three-time All-MIAA and all-region selection. In 2001, Glenn helped Truman State to a berth in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. She received her bachelor's degree in exercise physiology in 2002 and was class valedictorian. Glenn earned her master's degree in exercise physiology in 2005 from Purdue, where she spent time as a volunteer assistant coach.

One of the top liberos in program history, Amy Watanabe is in her 10th year as a Metropolitan State University of Denver volleyball assistant coach in 2022. She returned to the Roadrunners in 2013 after spending one season as an assistant coach at Montana State-Billings.

Her responsibilities on the coaching staff include serving, defense and serve/receive. Watanabe is also responsible for recruiting, coordinating camps, community engagement, academics, equipment management and alumni events with former student-athletes.

Watanabe finished her four-year career as a student-athlete for the Roadrunners in 2009, when she graduated as the school's all-time leader in digs with 1,640, a record she still holds. She is also still the program's all-time leader in service aces in the rally-scoring era (141). As a senior, she was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in digs per set, and was an All-RMAC second team selection. She also won the Mehn Award and was named Female Athlete of the Year for MSU Denver.

Since joining the staff, Watanabe has coached eight All-Americans (Taylor Duryea, Alysa Heath, Rylee Hladky, Avaline Lai, Lauren Quijano, Michaela Smith, Santaisha Sturges and Brandi Torr), two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference players of the year (Hladky and Torr), an RMAC setter of the year (Torr) and 14 All-RMAC first team selections: Quijano (2014), Torr (2014, 2015, 2016), Vasati Fiatoa (2015), Ryan Hoerdemann (2015, 2016), Smith (2016), Stephanie Laraway (2017), Duryea (2018), Sturges (2017, 2018), Alyssa Kelling (2019), Lai (2019, 2020, 2021), Kayla White (2020), Hladky (2020, 2021), Alexis Benda (2021) and Ember Canty (2021).

The 2021 season was arguably the best in program history, as Watanabe helped MSU Denver spend five weeks as the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II, to a program-best season-ending ranking of No. 3, and to a 28-4 overall record that included a 24-match winning streak and an 18-0 mark in RMAC regular-season play. MSU Denver played in the RMAC Tournament championship match for the sixth straight year and reached the NCAA Division II South Central Regional final in its 21st straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Roadrunners led the RMAC in aces per set (1.85) as well as assists (1,544), digs (1,893), kills (1,642), aces (222) and blocks (256.5). MSU Denver was 14th nationally in assists, 17th in assists per set, 19th in kills, 22nd in service aces, 24th in hitting percentage (.246), 26th in blocks and 27th in kills per set (13.7)

During the 2020 season, which was played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Watanabe helped lead MSU Denver to a 15-2 overall record, an 11-1 mark for second place in the RMAC, and a fifth-straight trip to the RMAC Tournament championship match. The Roadrunners were once again deadly in the serve and pass game, and led the RMAC and ranked 10th in Division II in service aces (118) and were second and 20th, respectively, in aces per set (2.03).

With Watanabe on the sideline, MSU Denver returned to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the 20th straight season in 2019, relying on key veterans as well as an impressive recruiting class of freshmen that included All-RMAC second team outside hitter Hladky. The Roadrunners were 23-8 overall, second in the RMAC at 16-2, and reached the RMAC Tournament championship match for the fourth straight season.

In 2018, the Roadrunners earned their 19th straight appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament. MSU Denver finished the year with a 21-10 record overall and a 15-3 record in RMAC play. The Roadrunners’ season ended in the NCAA tournament’s opening round against Colorado School of Mines.

The Roadrunners went 22-9 overall and 16-2 in RMAC play for third place in 2017. MSU Denver upset No. 17 Colorado School of Mines to reach the RMAC Tournament championship match. The Roadrunners advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament for the 18th consecutive season and defeated Texas A&M-Commerce in a five-set first-round match before falling to West Texas A&M in the second round.

Watanabe helped the 2016 MSU Denver volleyball team go 27-5 overall and a perfect 18-0 in RMAC regular season in coach Jenny Glenn's first season, completing an undefeated RMAC season for the first time in the program's history. MSU Denver received the second seed in the South Central Regional for the NCAA Division II volleyball tournament. The Roadrunners advanced to the Sweet 16, losing to 12th-ranked host Angelo State (Texas) in the regional championship match.

In 2015, Watanabe helped MSU Denver to a 20-12 record, including a 14-4 record in the RMAC, which was good enough for second in the conference.

The 2014 team went 23-7 overall and 15-3 in conference play for third in the RMAC, while the 2013 Roadrunners team was 20-11 overall and 13-6 in RMAC play for a third-place tie in the conference.

She served as a student assistant coach for MSU Denver in 2010. She helped the Roadrunners to the NCAA tournament after a 25-7 overall record, including a 16-2 mark in the RMAC. MSU Denver upset third-ranked Wayne State (Neb.) in the first round of the NCAA tournament before a 3-1 loss to eventual national champion Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.).

Watanabe began her coaching career during the offseason of her playing career. She coached local club volleyball from 2007-11 and coached one season at Denver East High School.

A native of Littleton, Colo., Watanabe earned her bachelor's degree in human performance & sport (K-12 physical education emphasis) from MSU Denver in 2010. In December 2016, she completed her master’s degree in eLearning design and implementation through the University of Colorado Denver. She enjoys musicals and has also visited nine of the 14 U.S. presidential libraries.

Kaden Knepper joined the MSU Denver volleyball coaching staff in March, 2022, after spending three seasons on the staff at Division I Liberty.

Knepper assisted the Flames with practice planning and also helped train their setters. He was also the assistant coach for Liberty's men's club volleyball team.

The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native played for Liberty’s club men’s volleyball and beach volleyball teams prior to graduating in 2019. He helped guide the Liberty men’s volleyball team to its best ever finish at Club Nationals. During his senior season, he was named National Collegiate Volleyball Federation All-America first team in addition to being named the East Coast Most Valuable Player. Knepper was voted the Male Athlete of the Year by Liberty Club Sports in 2019. He also earned a gold medal in men’s beach volleyball at the State Games of America.

During his time as a student at Liberty, Knepper served the Club Sports department as a sales assistant. He also completed an internship with Liberty’s youth developmental hockey camp.

He earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Liberty, graduating in May 2019. Knepper was named to the Dean’s List all four years and was a member of the honors program from 2016-18.