When head coach Todd Dagenais took over the UCF volleyball program in 2008, his goal with his first recruiting class was to find student-athletes that would not only embody everything the program would be striving for on the court, but also perfectly fit into the program's commitment to excelling in the classroom.

Dagenais' hopes were quickly realized on the court as seniors Meredith Murphy, Tory McCutcheon, Dani Harrison and Evija Vilde all became starters during their first season with the program. To date, the four student-athletes have played in 452 of a possible 476 combined matches for the Knights since 2009. In the classroom, this senior group has been a gold standard for the younger members of the program as each of them has been a Conference USA All-Academic team nominee with McCutcheon and Murphy being national Academic All-American candidates.

"You look back at this senior group and the unique thing about them is that they have played in basically every single match the last four years," Dagenais said. "Our program has been built on the back of this senior class. They have given everything to help shape the future of UCF volleyball both on the court and in the classroom."

"Hopefully as we head into this weekend, their four years of hard work will be rewarded with a successful weekend and a nice high seed heading into the conference tournament," Dagenais continued. "Our goal is to make the NCAA tournament and that is a goal that is alive and well."

Despite all their accolades, each senior stressed there is more work to be done, starting with this weekend against UAB and Memphis.

"We had one major goal this year; to make the NCAA tournament," Harrison said. "We have qualified for the conference tournament, which is great for our program, but we all want more."

For Harrison and the rest of the seniors, they know the hard work has just begun.