DENVER – In front of a packed house on Senior Night, the Metropolitan State University of Denver volleyball team played very well against a feisty Chadron State team and swept the Eagles to end the 2018 regular season with a fourth consecutive three-set victory (25-21, 25-18, 25-18).

Though Chadron State (8-19, 6-12 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) played MSU Denver (19-8, 15-3 RMAC) closer than it had Thursday night in the front end of a back-to-back series at the Auraria Event Center, the Roadrunners proved tougher in the back end of the series on Friday and used the rowdy crowd to its favor while celebrating three accomplished seniors in Taylor Duryea (Logan, Utah/Sky View), Stephanie Laraway (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) and Santaisha Sturges (Parker, Colo./Regis Jesuit).

"It's hard to play a team back-to-back," MSU Denver head coach Jenny Glenn said following the match. "Being the team that swept the night before, (Chadron State) had the advantage to make adjustments and changes. They made great adjustments. It was a tighter match tonight, which I like. I think we need that challenge. We need to be pushed. We need to be battle-tested heading into postseason."

Chadron State rose to the occasion in the opening set on Friday, responding well to a 6-0 match-opening MSU Denver run. From there, the Eagles basically matched the Roadrunners point-for-point until MSU Denver expanded its 21-20 lead into a 25-21 set victory with a 4-1 set-closing run.   

However, the Roadrunners only got better in the final two sets, hitting .231 in the second set and .235 in the third for 25-18 victories in both sets. Altogether, MSU Denver hit .207 while Chadron State managed to hit just .099. The Roadrunners have held opponents to a sub .100 hitting percentage 12 times this season, including the last four matches consecutively. MSU Denver is now 20-0 in Glenn's tenure when an opponent hits less than .100.

"I think this team, from day one, has been a feisty defensive team," Glenn said. "I can remember day one of preseason, like, alright – we're going to play some defense this year. We are feisty. I think that's in our DNA, especially when we're loose and feeling comfortable and confident. Especially at this point in the season, you've got to keep balls off the ground."

That's exactly what the Roadrunners did, engaging the Eagles in a number of long rallies that ended in MSU Denver points. On one particular play, Sturges yelled "Tay, Tay, Tay!" while diving to recover an errant pass – notifying Duryea that she'd be redirecting the ball to the back row for an attack. The result was one of Duryea's 16 kills on the night, capturing the never-quit attitude and effective communication of MSU Denver's rock-solid senior class.

"With us being the left-sides last year and this year, we work together a lot," Duryea said of herself and Sturges. "We pass next to each other. We hit the same balls, so we communicate a lot about that and what's working, what's not, giving each other shots. We've been working on the back row attack and incorporating. A huge thing for us is bettering the next ball. If it's not a great first ball, you're going to better the second, and better the third. That's just our thing. It's just a great chemistry with me and her especially. I know I can trust her and she can trust me. We work well together."

Duryea was on fire individually on Friday night as well, registering 10 digs along with her 16 kills on .351 hitting to record her 10^th double-double of the season. Sturges racked up 14 digs and added seven kills of her own, while Laraway notched eight kills. Sturges also matched a career-best with three service aces. Altogether, the Roadrunners' three seniors proved to be catalysts of MSU Denver's strong team win on Senior Night.

Sophomore Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) led the team with 19 digs, while fellow sophomore Jessa Megenhardt (Berthoud, Colo./Berthoud) matched a career-best with 12 digs and led the squad with 23 assists. Mikaela Kubiak (Kalamazoo, Mich./Portage Central) added 17 assists, and Kayla White (Montgomery, Ala./Montgomery Academy) contributed eight kills.

A solid team effort and fourth straight sweep gives MSU Denver confidence heading into the start of the RMAC tournament on Tuesday. Ending the 2018 campaign at 15-3 in league play, the Roadrunners are the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seed Regis at the Auraria Event Center on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. MT. For MSU Denver, it's a chance to redeem to regular-season losses to its  crosstown rival, including a three-set loss in a non-conference matchup on Oct. 23.

Admission for Tuesday's match is free for the first 100 MSU Denver students, while tickets are $5 for remaining students, seniors, and children ages 6-12. Adult tickets are $10 apiece, while children five years old and under get in free. You can purchase tickets at RoadrunnersAthletics.com/Tickets.

Make sure to follow @MSUDenverVB and @MSUDenverSports on Twitter for more information leading up to Tuesday's RMAC Tournament quarterfinal.