SEATTLE, Wash. – The No. 9 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M advanced to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals for the 10th time in program history after defeating No. 25 Wingate in a five set nail bitter.  WT advances to Friday's semifinal matches and will play the winner of No. 17 Barry and Missouri-St. Louis scheduled for 4 p.m. PST/6 p.m. CT inside the Royal Brougham Pavilion in Seattle, Wash. 
 
The Match
#9 West Texas A&M 3, #25 Wingate 2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12)
 
The Records

• #9 West Texas A&M 31-4 (16-0 LSC)
• #25 Wingate 32-3 (17-1 SAC)

BY THE SET
Set 1
The Lady Buffs claimed set one, 25-23, after coming back from a 7-1 deficit. WT hit .121 in the opening set with 10 kills on 33 attempts with six errors to go along with 15 digs, nine assists, four service aces and five blocks. The Bulldogs hit .158 with 14 kills on 38 swings with four errors, 13 assists, 15 digs, four blocks and two aces. 
 
SET 2
Set two saw six lead changes and 13 tied scores before the 'Dogs evened the match 1-1 with a 25-23 set victory. The Lady Buffs outhit the 'Dogs with 16 kills on 37 attempts with just four errors to hit .324 while Wingate had 15 kills with five errors on 38 swings.  WT had 15 digs, 14 assists, two blocks with a lone ace from Kayla Elliott.
 
SET 3
After falling behind in the opening two points, WT grabbed a 6-2 run to take the lead and never looked back as they rolled to a 25-19 third set victory to lead the match 1-0. The Lady Buffs hit an incredible .457 in the third with 19 kills on 35 swings with three errors to go along while the 'Dogs hit .263 with 12 kills on 38 attempts with two errors while leading at the net with four blocks.  
 
SET 4
The 'Dogs broke away with an eight-point lead before the Lady Buffs chipped away to bring the score within two but ultimately came up short, falling 25-22 to force the fifth set. WT and WU were nearly evenly matched with each team collecting 39 swings. WT hit .205 with 15 kills with seven errors while Wingate had 14 kills with five. WT out-blocked the Bulldogs 3-2 but WU produced two aces to the Lady Buffs one by Blair Moreland.
 
SET 5
The final set was one for the books with WT down 5-1 before evening the score, 9-9, with a 3-0 run. The Lady Buffs took the lead on the next point with a kill from Torrey Miller and never looked back, capturing the 15-12 set win. 
 
THE NUMBERS 
WT hit .246 overall in the quarterfinal match with 68 kills on 171 swings with 26 errors to go along with 63 assists, 78 digs, nine blocks and seven aces. Wingate ended the season hitting .199 with 61 kills on 181 swings with 25 errors, 68 digs, 58 assists, 14 blocks and six aces. 
 
Five Lady Buffs reached double digit kills with Torrey Miller (15), Kayla Elliott (13), Abi Nash (12), Taytum Stow (10) and Emma Becker (10).  Miller, Nash and Malis each registered a double-double combining for 38 digs while Bryli Contreras led with 19. Sophomore setters Ainsley Malis and Blair Moreland paced the offense with 25 assists each while Becker led with five blocks. 
 
Victoria Wilform led the 'Dogs with a match-high 17 kills on 43 attempts with five errors to hit .279 while All-American Shannon Kasprak guided WT with 48 assists, Maggie Young had seven blocks and Maggie Mullen had 18 digs. 

The Milestones

• The Lady Buffs continue their postseason run moving to 56-25 overall during the NCAA Tournament and move on to their ninth NCAA National Semifinals, first under Kendra Potts 
• Kendra Potts, the AVCA National Coach of the Year, moves to 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament with an 89-10 career record for an incredible winning percentage of 89.8%
• Miller, Nash and Malis' performances mark the fifth time this season WT produced multiple double-doubles in a single match; Miller now has 46 in her career