Colorado Christian at RMAC Tournament
Thursday, April 8-10
Grand Junction, CO (Brownson Arena)
Follow Along:
RMAC Network
Live Stats
1st Round vs. MSU Denver (Thursday, April 8, 1:30 p.m.)
- The Roadrunners have won eight straight in the head-to-head series
- Colorado Christian last beat MSU Denver during the 2014 campaign
- The winner of the contest will face CSU Pueblo in the semifinal round (South Dakota Mines withdrew from the tournament)
Against MSU Denver
This is the fourth time that two schools have met in the RMAC postseason tournament. The Roadrunners won in 2012, 2014 with the Cougars claiming a win during the 2012 event. All-time MSU Denver is 51-10 against the Cougars.
In mid-February, MSU Denver swept the sets 25-18, 25-12, 25-15 while tallying 46 total kills and a .327 hitting percentage in the contest. The Roadrunners had 46 kills as a team while Colorado Christian registered 26.
RMAC Tournament
Colorado Christian has qualified for five of the last six league tournament. All-time the Cougars have qualified for the semifinals on a handful of occasions but have never each the championship match. The last time the Cougars made the semifinal round came during the 2017 season.
This season the RMAC used an RPI formula to calculate the seeds for the event since the possibility existed of an uneven schedule to postponements and cancelations during the health pandemic. The final ranking broke down as such. Regis pulled out of the event due to an outbreak of Covid-19 with the entire athletic department and UCCS was granted admission into the postseason event.
1) Colorado Mesa - 17.18
2) MSU Denver - 16.42
3) CSU Pueblo - 14.82
4) Regis - 14.69
5) Colo. School of Mines - 13.92
6) Western Colorado - 11.23
7) South Dakota Mines - 10.42
8) Colo. Christian - 10.38
Next Two:
UCCS - 9.91
Fort Lewis - 9.54
In the Conference Stats ...
As a team the Cougars are listed among the team leaders in a variety of categories in the RMAC:
| CATEGORY |
RANK |
| Service Aces - 1.83 |
3rd |
| Assists - 10.78 |
6th |
| Kills - 11.63 |
6th |
There are a handful of players who rank in the conference's top 10:
Head Coach - Bobby Blanken
The 2020 season will be
Bobby Blanken's fourth as Colorado Christian's Head Volleyball Coach. In his first year, Coach Blanken led the team to a conference record of 14-4 which landed a 4th place conference finish which allowed the program to host a RMAC Tournament match for the first time.
During his three seasons with the Cougars he has coached six all-conference players as well as an all-region and All-American player in Sophia Proano.
Before Colorado Christian, Blanken served MSU Denver's head assistant coach since 2014. In his three-year stint at MSU Denver, Blanken helped lead a very successful program that went 18-0 in the RMAC in 2016.
Prior to coaching at MSU Denver, Blanken was the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA from 2010-2014. During his time at The Master's College, Blanken successfully built the program from a 7-22 first year record to a No. 6 NAIA finish in his final year. Blanken was named the 2012 AVCA West Region Coach of the Year and 2012 Golden State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. At The Master's College, Blanken totaled a record of 87-56 (.608).
