MOON TOWNSHIP, PA- The No. 5 nationally ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M (31-3, 14-2 LSC) will face the Clarion Golden Eagles (28-6,13-3 PSAC) in the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals, the first round of the Elite Eight, on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 4:00 p.m CT in the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, Pa.
 

LIVE COVERAGE

All matches for the NCAA Division II National Tournament will be covered by the host, Clarion Athletic communication department, with streaming on NCAA.com. 

Every match of the NCAA National Championship will be available on NCAA.com or through streaming on the OTT app. Fans will be able to purchase each individual match for $9.95 or the full tournament through the NCAA Championship option for $29.99. 

TICKET PRICES

● Adult, All Session – $30

● Student, Child, All Session - $15

● Adult, Single Session – $12

● Student, Child, Single Session – $7

● Groups of 10 or more, Single Session -$5

Tickets can be pre- purchased online at NCAA.com/tickets or at the door. UPMC Events Center is a cashless operation; CASH will NOT be accepted at the ticket box office.

WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE

This will be the Lady Buffs 30th appearance in the NCAA Division II National Tournament and third consecutive appearance at the helm of head coach Kendra Potts. The Lady Buffs defeated MSU Denver in the past three Regional Championships to advance to the Elite Eight with the most recent championship win coming on Dec. 2, 2023 in a thrilling five set win over the Roadrunners. Last year the Lady Buffs advanced to the National Championship match to then defeat No. 2 Concordia St. Paul for their fourth National Championship title in Lady Buff history winning 3-1.

THE HISTORY

This will be the second meeting of the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs and the Clarion Golden Eagles with the last match played 28 years ago (Sept. 23, 1995) where the Lady Buffs had a clean sweep of the Eagles at a neutral site in Denver, Colo. This will be the first time for WT and Clarion to meet in the NCAA postseason with this being the Lady Buffs 30th appearance at the Elite Eight and only the second time for the Clarion Eagles. 

SCOUTING CLARION

The Clarion Golden Eagles are led by 17th year head coach Jennifer Herron, who for the past three seasons has posted 20+ win records. 

The Golden Eagles offense is led by junior outside hitter Cassidy Snider with 585 kills averaging 4.76 kills per set. Snider was named the Pennsylvania State Atlantic Conference Athlete of the Year. Redshirt senior London Fuller runs a 5-1 offense with 1,353 assists on the season. Libero Abigail Selfridge has put up 490 digs averaging 3.98 per set while freshman middle blocker, Finley Kearney, holds down the front row with 92 blocks. 

The Golden Eagles are making their second-ever appearance in the Elite Eight after winning the Atlantic Region Championship. This will be their first appearance at the NCAA National Championship since 2010.

A WIN WOULD...

A win against the Eagles would advance the Lady Buffs to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals held on the next day, Friday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m. CT against the winner between No. 1 Tampa and No. 8 Bentley. 

ADDING TO THE RESUME

The Lady Buffs are competing in their 30th postseason appearance at the NCAA Division II National tournament. After winning their 16th NCAA Regional Championship and third in a row, the Lady Buffs will be back in the NCAA National Quarterfinals.

IN THE NATIONAL POLLS

WT is one of four teams ranked in the AVCA national polls at the Elite Eight. The Lady Buffs come in at #5, while Tampa is ranked #1, Wayne State is #3 and Missouri-St. Louis is #4. 

A LOOK AT THE BRACKET

The Lady Buffs are on the left side of the bracket and coming in ranked No. 4 against No. 5 Clarion. No. 1 seed Tampa is going up against No. 8 ranked Bentley. On the right side of the bracket is No. 2 Missouri-St. Louis against No. 7 Anderson (SC). Following the right side is No. 3 Wayne State (NE) and No. 6 Cal State LA.

WT HEAD COACH KENDRA POTTS

Kendra Potts is in her fifth season at the helm of Lady Buff Volleyball with an overall 122-23 (.841) record and 66-12 (.846) in league play.  Potts led her alma mater to the program's 4th NCAA National Championship after capturing the South Central Regional title to become the sixth head coach in program history to guide WT to the Elite Eight. Coach Potts was named the AVCA Division II National Head Coach of the Year following her 33-4 record and 26 game winning streak for the 2022 season. This is the third consecutive year that Potts has led the Lady Buffs to the Elite Eight National tournament. 

MAKE IT A DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Four players have recorded double-doubles this season with Torrey Miller, Ainsley Malis, Blair Moreland and Emma Becker totaling 19. Torrey Miller leads the category with 11 on the season which includes 177 kills and 157 digs. Malis is second with five followed by Moreland with two and Becker with one, her first in her career at WT coming from the last regular season match against Texas A&M International with 15 kills and 10 digs.

SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

The Lady Buffs walked away with the NCAA DII South Central Regional title after a sweep over UT Tyler in the quarterfinals, a four set fight against DBU and a five set thriller over #8 MSU Denver. The Box set the record for the second largest crowd (1,658) while playing MSU Denver and the sixth largest (1,438) while playing DBU in the NCAA Regional Tournament.