DENVER – MSU Denver volleyball coach Jenny Glenn has a choice to make.
 
Avaline Lai the middle blocker. Or Avaline Lai the right-side hitter.
 
Either option is awfully good.
 
"She has some specific strengths that we try to leverage, and we can leverage those still on the right side," Glenn said. "That's where we have her now, but there's nothing to say she we wouldn't move her back to middle."
 
Lai and the Roadrunners get their next chances on the floor this weekend, when they return to the Auraria Events Center play host to Fort Lewis at 7 p.m. Friday, and to Adams State at 5 p.m. Saturday on Hispanic Heritage Night.
 
With veteran Alyssa Kelling and freshman Mikayla McClinton providing a solid middle-blocking duo, Lai has returned to her role at right-side hitter where she played most of last season as a freshman.
 
She got her first significant action of the season last weekend at the Colorado Premier Challenge where, playing against four top-15 teams in the national ratings, she had a .375 hitting percentage (50 kills, 11 errors, 104 attacks) that was the fourth-best in the tournament field and was the second-best for any tournament player with more than 75 attacks.
 
She had a career-high 19 kills on .333 hitting against No. 13 Barry (Fla.), hit .364 against No. 9 Tarleton State (Texas) with 11 kills, and hit .346 with 10 kills against No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State. In a win over top-ranked, defending national champion Tampa (Fla.), she had 10 kills on .529 hitting and added a career-high tying seven block assists.
 
The 6-foot-1 Lai had trained in the offseason to return to middle blocker, but plans can change.
 
"I definitely was looking forward to middle, and I got a lot of training there this spring and preseason, too," Lai said. "But Mikayla really stepped up in the middle, which is awesome, and Jenny moved me out right side, which I also love."
 
Last year, while about half the time (53 of 110 sets), Lai led the team (minimum three attacks) with a .325 hitting percentage (108 kills, 28 errors, 246 attacks), ranked third on the team with 2.0 kills per set, and tied for sixth with 108 kills. She was fourth on the team with 0.62 blocks per set and was fifth with 33 blocks.
 
In Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, she ranked second in the league with a .414 hitting percentage and was seventh in the league overall at .325.
 
And she was just getting things figured out.
 
"I think my mindset is better now," Lai said. "Last year I was a freshman and I was learning a ton, and I was very overwhelmed with that like any freshman. But progressing through the year my mindset has changed about just playing, having patience and learning things and not worrying about being perfect on the court – which is definitely something I hd focused on my whole volleyball career.
 
"The coaches definitely helped me realize that they don't expect perfection from me, they just expect perfect effort."
 
Lai's offensive arsenal was on display on a more full-time basis last weekend. Sometimes it seemed as if her kills were traveling downward at a 90-degree angle.
 
"Ava really was the most competitive and aggressive that I've seen her," Glenn said. "I was proud of that."
 
Enthusiasm from Lai, who averaged 2.8 kills and 0.7 blocks per set at the tournament, comes as no surprise.
 
"What stood out to me when we recruited her was how excited she was to be a Roadrunner and how excited she was about MSU Denver," Glenn said. "Even after she committed, she would come to our matches and sit in the front row and be as excited as we were to win matches."
 
Lai, from Boulder's Fairview High School, said the program was a perfect fit for her.
 
"I just loved the culture in the program, how competitive it was and how everyone just wanted to win," she said. "Everyone was willing to get better and the team was really unified. There was no drama, and I love that."
 
Glenn first spotted Lai when she was on the coaching staff at Northern Colorado and Lai was playing club volleyball.
 
"I saw her hitting the slide," Glenn said. "And I was really impressed with how she hit off one foot, which is always a positive for a middle."
 
After taking the job at MSU Denver, Glenn saw Lai play again in a club tournament.
 
"I told my assistant that we needed to get her here on a visit," Glenn said.
 
For the season, Lai is third in the RMAC with a .378 hitting percentage, even though her playing time has come primarily against ranked teams (five of the Roadrunners' eight matches have been against top-20 teams).
 
Expectations aren't quite as high for Fort Lewis (4-5) and Adams State (4-5). Those teams are picked to finish, eighth and ninth, respectively, in the RMAC.
 
However, Glenn said she isn't worried about any potential letdown.
 
"This group isn't looking at the big picture," Gshe said. "We have our vision and mission that guides us. So I think we'll be focused on Fort Lewis come Friday. And we're hungry for wins after going 1-3 last weekend."
 
Said Lai: "For this weekend, we really just need to focus on playing our game. I think we have a very competitive team. I'm excited about this weekend. It's going to be fun."