Match Notes
Tournament Central
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CANYON, Texas – The No. 12 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs are headed to the Mile High City to compete in the 2022 Colorado Premier Challenge hosted by MSU Denver and Regis.  WT will take on No. 11 Central Missouri and Regis on Friday afternoon while Saturday's opponents will be determined at the conclusion of Friday's play. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and stream will be available for viewers during the entire tournament provided by the MSU Denver and Regis' Athletic Communication departments. 
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
#11 Central Missouri (Sept. 2 | Noon CT)
The Jennies led off the season 2-1 with victories against Lees-McRae and Wheeling before falling to West Florida in five sets.  CMU is led by first year head coach and former CMU All-American Caitlin Peterson who was tabbed to lead the Jennies in January 2022. 
 
WT and CMU meet on the court for the first time since 2012 with the Jennies leading the all-time series 11-7-1 including 6-7-1 in neutral locations.  In their last meeting, the Lady Buffs defeated the CMU 3-0 at the preseason tournament in Denver. 
 
Kersti Nix leads the way with 45 kills on 107 swings with 16 attack errors to hit .271 to average 3.75 kills per set. Olivia Olson and Chandler Vaughan guide the Jennies offense combining for 133 assist while Vaughan has a team-high eight service aces.  Rylie Barnum leads the way on the back row with 66 digs to average 5.50 per frame while Jenna Schulte has 17.0 blocks. 
 
Regis (Sept. 2 | 3:30 p.m. CT)
Joel List is in his 17^th season at the helm of Regis volleyball as he has led the program to four NCAA Tournament appearances including runs in the Elite Eight in 2017 and 2019. 
 
Friday marks the first meeting between the teams since the South Central Regional Championship in 2017.  The Lady Buffs and Rangers are tied 12-12 in the all-time series with Regis posting a two-match win streak. 
 
Amelia Davis, a transfer from East Carolina, leads the way offensively for the Rangers with 49 kills on 94 swings with 10 attack errors to hit .415 during opening weekend, averaging 3.06 kills per frame. First Team All-RMAC honoree Mara LeGrand paces the offense with 136 assists (8.50/set) while Haley Kennedy leads the way defensively with 74 digs to average 4.63 per frame.
 
COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE 
The Colorado Premier Challenge will take place on the campus of Rocky Mountian Athletic members #4 MSU Denver and Regis featuring 10 other programs with #16 Angelo State, #11 Central Missouri, #6 Concordia-St. Paul, Azusa Pacific, #15 Wayne State, #18 Lewis, #10 Northwest Missouri State, #5 West Florida, #3 Western Washington, #12 WT. An All-Tournament team will be announced at the end of the tournament.
 
WT is competing in the tournament for the 16^th time in program history with an all-time tournament record of 34-26 with three championship titles.  The Lady Buffs won the 2012 Colorado Premier Challenge 3-0 against Tampa. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs opened the 2022 season at the annual BritKare Lady Buff Classic where they went 3-1 with the lone loss coming against the nationally-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. Three Lady Buffs received All-Tournament accolades with Torrey Miller, Kayla Elliott, and Taytum Stow. 
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR 
There were zero undefeated teams in the Lone Star Conference after opening weekend as five programs led off the year 3-1 with WT, Oklahoma Christian, Texas A&M International, and UT Permian Basin. 
 
IN THE POLLS
WT is one of two programs from the Lone Star Conference represented in the standings with Angelo State ranking 16^th. Tampa picked up 39-of-47 first-place votes followed by Washburn (1-fpv), Western Washington (5-fpv), MSU Denver (1-fpv), West Florida (1-fpv), Concordia-St. Paul, Cal State San Bernardino, Nebraska-Kearney, and Northwest Missouri State to round out the Top 10. 
 
WT HEAD COACH KENDRA POTTS
Kendra Potts begins her fourth season as the helm of Lady Buff Volleyball with an overall 61-17 (.782) record and 37-10 (.787) in league play.  Potts led her alma mater to the program's 14^th NCAA Elite Eight Appearance after capturing the South Central Regional title to become the sixth head coach in program history to guide WT to the Elite Eight. 
 
HOME DOMINANCE
WT houses one of the best home environments in the country across all of NCAA volleyball.  The WTAMU Fieldhouse, best known as "The Box" is home to 20 Lone Star Conference Championships, 14 regional titles and three NCAA Division II National Championships.  At "The Box", the Lady Buffs are 511-83 since 1980 for an incredible winning percentage of 86.1% and 90.4% during conference play. 
 
WE'RE NUMBER 1!
The defending Lone Star Conference Champion Lady Buffs were picked up 21-of-44 possible first-place votes for a total of 707 points to land atop the preseason poll.  Angelo State was selected second with 11 first-place votes (699) followed by UT Tyler (7 fpv, 680), Lubbock Christian (586) and DBU (3 fpv, 560) rounding out the top five. 
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Two Lady Buffs received preseason honors as junior Torrey Miller was voted as the LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Blair Moreland was named the Preseason Setter of the Year.
 
BRITKARE COURT
WT Athletics proudly announced a new state-of-the-art court for the historic home of Lady Buff Volleyball thanks to a generous gift from BritKare Home Medical that highlighted the 2021 season.   ­BritKare Court at The Box features a top-line Taraflex court surface that is widely used in Division I arenas, professional volleyball and was most recently featured at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.  
 
2021 RECAP 
The Lady Buffs are coming off another historical season as finished 26-5 with the programs 14^th appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. WT won the program's 16^th Lone Star Conference Tournament Title to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 28^th time in school history.  The Lady Buffs earned No. 7 seed for the regional tournament where they battled and won their 14^th South Central Regional title to advance to the Elite Eight.
 
UP NEXT
Following the Colorado Premier Challenge, WT will head to San Angelo for the LSC Crossover where they will face Angelo State, Lubbock Christian, and UT Tyler on Sept. 8-10 before they return to The Box to open league play against DBU on Sept. 16.  
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BUFFS
Fans can follow and stay up to date on all the Lady Buff action on online and on social media.  Follow the Lady Buffs on Twitter (@WTVolleyball), Instagram (@ladybuffvolleyball), Facebook (@WTVolleyball) and now Tik Tok (@WestTexasAMVB).