It would have been pretty easy for the Kansas State volleyball team to accept mediocrity after the season the Wildcats had a year ago, clearly their worst showing in the last 10 years.
But instead, they've responded with another 20-win season, a third place standing in the Big 12 Conference and a No. 12 national ranking.
A big part of getting the Cats (21-7, 13-5) back to good standing are the contributions of a trio of seniors that will be honored Saturday night when K-State hosts Colorado at 7:30 in the final regular season home match of the season at Ahearn Field House.
"They made an immense commitment to not repeat, did everything they could to put themselves in the position to have a good year. That's them. They did that," KSU head coach Suzie Fritz said. "It's one of the strongest leadership classes we've had since 2003, and that team won a Big 12 Championships. That speaks very highly of them, each, and every one of them."
But not only did Lauren Rosenthal, Stacey Spiegelberg and Angie Lastra put their names atop the Wildcats' record books here, they also provided a source of leadership that even chokes up Fritz.
"She's my MVP," Fritz said as she fought back emotions Thursday. "She makes a 1,000 plays during the course of a match that allow us to win matches, things that most people probably don't notice. She makes the big plays too, the ones everyone notices, but it's also all the little stuff in between too."
Lastra, a 5-foot-6 libero, is K-State's all-time leader in digs with 1,971 - nearly 400 ahead of the next person. The native of Puerto Rico has also posted 33 20-dig matches, the most ever at KSU.
"She's an incredible player, and in my opinion, one of the best liberos in the country," Fritz said. "I've said this before, but everyone wants to play with Angie Lastra and it doesn't take much after watching her play to understand why.
"I tell her she's my MVP or 'the deal' and she just blushes and says, 'thank you coach.' She's just doing her job, unassuming, doing what she thinks she's supposed to do."
Spiegelberg, a 6-foot setter, has too etched her name in the record books, sitting fourth all-time in career assists with 4,351.
The Overland Park native "was barely a setter" when she came to K-State, according to Fritz. She was a middle blocker on her club team, but the coaching staff liked her hands and turned her into a true setter.
"It's been in the last couple of years that I have said, 'she's really a good setter now,'" Fritz said. " I think before that she relied on her athleticism just to be successful. Now, she's a very good setter and has been a floor captain for us the last three years."
Fritz said she liked Spiegelberg at this position because she is what some might call emotionally neutral on the floor.
"The lows aren't too low and the highs aren't too high for Stacey," she said. "She's kind of that person that just makes everybody feel OK. You know it's going to be OK with Stacey, that's how it feels with her."
Fritz wasn't sure that Rosenthal was going to make it at K-State when she first arrived. The seventh-year head coach said the San Antonio, Texas native came to the Wildcat program immature as a player and seemed "overwhelmed" by her surroundings.
"She had a hard time adjusting to adversity," Fritz said. "But her maturation process, from start to finish, has been incredible. She's so talented, so smart, just an exception individual."
Given that, Fritz said Rosenthal has made more growth or a "transformation" during her time here, than any other Wildcats she's coached.
"That first semester was hard on her," Fritz said. "I questioned if she would make it and it's amazing to see how far she has come. She is, by far, our strongest vocal presence, the most demanding, the one who keeps us going and verbalizes, like 'this isn't good enough, we have to do better."
The Wildcats close out their regular season next week at second place Texas. The Wildcats, who are a lock for the postseason, may also have a chance to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. That won't be known for another week though when the announcement is made the evening of Nov. 25. A live watch party is scheduled for 7 that night at Buffalo Wild Wings in Aggieville.