DENVER – The final week of the volleyball regular season for No. 1 MSU Denver includes the several significant events.
 
Not only are the Roadrunners one victory away from clinching their fifth Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season championship (and 11^th overall conference title), but Thursday is also Family Night. And Friday is Senior Night.
 
MSU Denver has already clinched the top seed for the RMAC Tournament, so Alexis Benda, Avaline Lai, Jessa Megenhardt, Caiden Rexius and Joli Sadler will return to the Auraria Event Center again even after Friday's pre-match ceremony.
 
But the 7 p.m. Friday match with UCCS is a chance to reflect and recognize players who – in the case of fifth-year seniors Benda and Megenhardt – have compiled a 103-31 record since arriving on campus in 2017.
 
And that includes being ranked in the national top three for most of last season and then this year's ascent to No. 1, which includes a 20-match winning streak and a 16-0 record in RMAC play.
 
"It's cool to look back on their careers," said MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn, who for the first time will send off a group of seniors that she recruited. "And it's fun to see that the process does work. No matter how the season turns out, we can trust the process. We know there's been a lot of ups and downs the last five years, pounding the stone and continuing to work when maybe we didn't get the outcome we were hoping for. This group, specifically Jessa and Benda who've been here since the first year, those two have seen a lot. They're a big part of why we are where we are today."
 
First though, is a key matchup against CSU-Pueblo (18-6, 12-4) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
The ThunderWolves nearly snapped MSU Denver's winning streak at seven back on Sept. 25, holding two match points before falling in a five-set thriller. CSU-Pueblo was eighth in the initial South Central Regional rankings, which are used to determine the at-large qualifiers for the eight-team NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.
 
"They're a very feisty, very confident team," Glenn said. "They kept balls off the ground against us. They're a good blocking team, so we need to be smart about how we run our offense. They're going to play really hard, and they're playing for a lot in their season right now – but so are we. It should be a really fun match."
 
A win would give the Roadrunners a chance to match the 18-0 run through league play by the 2016 team – Glenn's first – in the Senior Night matchup with UCCS (8-15, 5-11).
 
Lai is a junior athletically due to the COVID-19 exemption all student-athletes received last season, but she is planning to begin law school rather than use her final season of eligibility. A two-time NCAA Division II National Player of the Week and a former AVCA All-America honorable mention selection, she's also been a past all-region first team selection and has twice been All-RMAC first team. Lai is fifth in program history in career hitting percentage (.338), has 813 career kills and has recorded 171 block assists. This season she ranks eighth in the RMAC with 3.0 kills per set and sixth with a .331 hitting percentage.
 
"Ava has contributed since her freshman year," Glenn said. "We recruited her as a middle and moved her to the right, and she's been an All-American and a National Player of the Week on the right. With her size and physical presence, she's locked down the right side for us for the last four years. She's a big personality who loves to interact with people and always be a part of the action. She has provided a lot of levity for us over the years and is fun to be around. We'll miss her physical presence on the court and her light-hearted presence off the court." 
 
Rexius began her career at Western Colorado before transferring to MSU Denver. She was MSU Denver's starting libero in 2019 and has been a regular back-row rotation player in both 2018 and 2021.
 
"She came to us as a transfer and had to sit out a year and is now in her sixth year – and I think that just shows her commitment to the sport, how competitive she is and how much she loves the game," Glenn said. "When I recruited her, I said, 'I want that kid in our gym because she's going to raise the level of feistiness and relentlessness' – and she's done that. She's a great athlete who competes hard but is the most composed person while doing it. She's made so many contributions that maybe haven't always been front and center from a recognition standpoint but that have impacted the program in a positive way." 
 
Megenhardt has been a high-quality setter with a deadly serve. She earned major playing time as a part-time starter in the Roadrunners' 6-2 rotation as a sophomore in 2018 and has played as a regular starter in the 6-2 ever since. She's 12^th in program history in assists (1,940) and 16^th in service aces (122) and tied for 21^st in matches played (115).
 
"She's been a solid rock for us at the setting position," Glenn said. "She is so committed to the game, always watching video, always trying to increase her I.Q. from a tactical standpoint. She has set the standard on how to work hard and what the desire to get better looks like. She's put in so many countless hours that nobody will ever know about. And she's grown our team's commitment in that area as well, not to mention the fact that she's been setting a very efficient offense for us for the last four years." 
 
Sadler joined the program as a junior college transfer in 2019 and immediately moved into the starting role alongside Megenhardt in the 6-2, where she also played during the spring season. Another setter with a deadly serve, Sadler has career totals of 907 assists and 63 service aces. She has not played this season.
 
"Jo came to us as a juco transfer and filled a need for us right away as a starting setter," Glenn said. "She has her own style and gets the job – whatever it is – done well. She played so hard for her team and was one of the most selfless people in that respect. Unfortunately this last year didn't go in her favor from an injury standpoint, but she is one of the most positive athletes I've ever coached. She can find a way to see any situation as the 'glass is half-full.' Her stable demeanor and positive presence has been critical for our team and will be missed." 
 
Benda, a four-year regular whose spring season was affected by injury, had a career year in 2021, averaging 2.4 kills per set while hitting .271. She has 738 career kills and 164 career block assists, and is tied for 21^st in program history with 115 matches played.
 
"I can't say enough about what Benda has done in five years in this program," Glenn said. "The number of shots she developed and her I.Q. for the game is so impressive. She has always been a clutch performer and come through when we have needed her most. She's battled a lot of injuries during the course of her career, but she always came back and always stayed committed to the program. She's been a huge piece of the foundation we've laid in the last five years. Her growth as a leader and athlete has been fun to watch. Most people will never know the amount of work and sacrifice she has put in behind the scenes to make sure our team was in the right place."