It was an appropriate ending to Tuesday's volleyball practice.

As the last kill shot was attempted, Western Michigan University seniors Amanda Glanton and Mary Clare Brusek went up and blocked the shot with a vengeance. They have been doing that a lot for the Broncos this season.

The two are seniors, and along with Reeghan Boyer, Maddie Kmetz and Molly Brown, will be playing in their final home matches on Friday at 6 pm and Saturday at 3 pm when the Broncos (13-14 overall, 10-4 Mid-American Conference and in second place) host Kent State (8-17, 3-11). WMU ends the regular season on Nov. 13 and 14 with matches at Ohio University.

"It's been really cool to see them mature in the game, own the program and own the culture in all their positions," head coach Colleen Munson said. "We had a tough preseason, but those lessons are paying off, and if we hadn't done that, we wouldn't be where we are now."

Just as last season's Super Seniors were hard to replace, so will this fivesome. Some have changed positions and some have refined their positions to be some of the best in the MAC.

Glanton has stayed in her middle spot and has become one of the league's top blockers. Brown transferred from Texas A&M prior to this season, and not only changed her position to be a sort-of middle/right side hitter, but she worked on her serve and now leads the MAC in service aces with 40. At a height of 6-2, she is the tallest player in the MAC over the past 10 years to lead the league in aces.

Brusek also is that hybrid middle/right and is one of the top hitters in the MAC. Boyer is now the libero after playing the back row for three years. Kmetz is a backup setter, but has come on in the previous eight matches to solidify the back row, too.

"This senior class is doing whatever the team needs them to do for the team to be successful," Munson said. "The seniors have always had it in them, but their roles have been bigger this year and they have embraced them."

Glanton has put her final season on the court as one to remember. She leads the Broncos with 13 solo blocks and 92 block assists. Her hitting average of .328 is fourth in the MAC and her average of 1.13 blocks per set is fifth.

"I lost a lot of my close friends from last year, but it's been fun building those new relationships this year, learning what motivates people on the court and what makes them laugh has been fun," she said. "And I think it was just this is my last season and I don't want to have any regrets, just leave it all on the court and love every second of it."

The 6-foot, 3-inch middle spent a lot of her preseason practices working on blocking. Working against one of the nation's top setters in Logan Case, and then after she graduated, working against redshirt freshman setter Leah Richmond, who leads the MAC in assists per set, has also helped.

"Having unpredictable setters like Logan and Leah to practice against helps me against tricky opponents' setters," Glanton said. "Also, having the outside hitters on this team and having some shift to the right has been huge because they know what it's like for the middle to close the block."

Brown comes from Goshen, Ind., and played at Texas A&M for three seasons before transferring to WMU to be near her family. Besides her serving, she is fourth on the team in kills with 217 and second in attempts at 593.

"Because I'm able to play both right and middle, I'm able to see both sides and I can help coach both sides because this is a younger team (one junior, eight freshmen and sophomores)," Brown said. "When they become seniors, they can be better than I am."

Like Glanton and her blocking practice, Brown has served a ton of balls at both A&M and at WMU. It has paid off.

"I love serving," she said with a big smile. "It's completely under my control and nothing else can affect it.

"I'll serve the ball in different places and also put it high or low to players."

But there are those pesky service errors.

"It 100 percent bothers me when I have an error," she said. "I view my serves as high risk, high reward and while I don't like errors, I try to keep them down."

Added Munson: "Molly has developed her game as she has been playing both the middle and right-side positions in our systems, making it tough to defend on the offensive side of the game and gives our opponents a big block to hit around defensively."

Brusek is ninth in the MAC with a .293 hitting percentage. She is third on WMU's team with 61 blocks.

"MC is also playing middle and right side for us which is new for her this year, and like Molly, MC has also embraced that new role and is so efficient on her attacking," Munson said. "It's been fun to see this class step up into new and bigger roles together after we lost so much on-court experience last season."

Kmetz is a redshirt junior, but has decided to transfer at the end of the season to go to grad school and get her doctorate in occupational therapy, and also possibly play one more season.

"It honestly feels like we just got here and were moving into the dorms," she said. "Mary Clare, Amanda, Reeghan and I all came to Western Michigan together."

It was on Oct. 10 where Kmetz first came in as a full-time backrow defender. In the previous eight matches counting that one, she has 59 of her 61 season digs and also has all 11 of her service aces.

"I haven't really changed anything," Kmetz said. "It's more mentally switching from setting to defending."

Opponents have noticed how she plays defense and how she serves…but about those service errors.

"An error bothers me if it's on my first attempt," she said. "It's like, 'My gosh…at least make the first one in.'

"I like to make them more aggressive to get the other team out of system because that helps our team a ton."

Added Munson: "Maddie has done a fantastic job. She is serving well and her court presence is giving Leah a setter's perspective in the back court. As a bonus, she steps in and sets a second ball out of system really well."

Boyer has had double-digit digs in 11 of WMU's previous 12 matches, totaling 315 for the season. She earned the libero role halfway through conference play by willing her teammates to succeed through her leadership, competitive spirit and skill set.

"Reeghan is our compass on the court as she is communicating before, during and after every play," Munson said. "You can see how passionate she plays every point."