Expectations were high for the Metro State volleyball team this season.
That happens when you have the conference preseason player of the year, the preseason defensive player of the year, four other senior contributors and a coach who had been to 11 consecutive NCAA Division II tournaments with the Roadrunners.
But expectations on paper don’t necessarily translate to the court.
In this case, however, with undersized outside hitter Bri Morley of Cherokee Trail High School leading the offense and senior libero Ngoc Phan (pronounced Knock Fan) of Cherry Creek digging out the ball in the back row, the Roadrunners (22-5) appear a lock to keep their NCAA Tournament streak going.
They were ranked 11th nationally last week and fourth in the region, from which eight teams will go to the NCAAs.
The Roadrunners open the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 Colorado Mines on Tuesday in a quarterfinal. Top seed Nebraska-Kearney was ranked sixth nationally in last week’s poll.
Phan has been a key. Along the way, she evolved from an unhappy high school student to a quiet team leader with goals intact for the future.
“I was never a great student in high school. I was going through what every teenager does, questioning why and who I was. I didn’t take care of homework or the classroom,” Phan said. “I went to college because my only passion was volleyball.”
The 5-foot-5 native of Vietnam, who emigrated with her family before the age of 2, has been repaying Metro State coach Debbie Hendricks for her confidence ever since.
“When Coach Hendricks gave me a chance to play volleyball, that’s when I decided to change,” Phan said. “If someone goes out on a limb for you, you want to do something. I changed. I became a better student.”
The biology major graduates in the spring and will go into a medical lab technology program.
On the court, she moved from defensive specialist to the more critical libero position who spends less time rotating out. She was named a national player of the week last season and received two RMAC weekly defensive honors this season.
She has lived between two worlds: the student-athlete at Metro State and weekends with her tightly knit family in which Asian culture prevails.
“She’s a fairly private person,” Hendricks said. “She’s a captain this year. She did a great job in the classroom and leads by example.”
Morley said the teammates are sometimes shocked to hear her talking in a foreign language on a cellphone with her family.
Phan doesn’t even consider herself fully bilingual.
“I’m more fluent in English,” she said.
She heard Vietnamese first in the home but had no formal education in the written language.
“I’m not in touch with my Asian side besides my family. I go home every weekend,” she said. “They are a real big part of who I am. Our culture taught me my work ethic and how to treat people.”
To their teammates, Morley said, “She’s just one of the girls.”
Despite her relative lack of height at 5-9, Morley has been made third-team and honorable mention All-America the last two years. She’s hoping for a third national notice.
While 6-footers are more common across the net, Hendricks said in Division II shorter players can excel, especially if they are athletic.
Metro State’s standard home in the NCAA bracket, solid programs at Colorado Mines and Regis and Division I contenders paced by NCAA playoffs regular Colorado State speak well for the club volleyball teams feeding the area schools.
Phan and Morley have made their cases. The voters still must come in on the player awards.
“Have they both had incredible years? They have, but the vote is up to the other coaches,” Hendricks said.
