#8 West Texas A&M (26-4) vs. #3 MSU Denver (28-2)
Date & Time	Saturday, December 7th at 4:00 p.m.
Location	San Angelo, Texas | Junell Center
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Live Video (Pay Per View)	FloCollege
Other Links	Match Notes | Tournament Central

CANYON. Texas – The #8 Lady Buffs continue their NCAA Tournament run on Saturday afternoon as they battle the #3 Roadrunners of MSU Denver in the South Central Regional Semifinals with first serve set for 4:00 p.m. at the Junell Center in San Angelo, Texas.
 
MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners enter Saturday riding an eight-match win streak as they are 28-2 overall, winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Regular Season and Tournament Championships. MSUD topped Western Colorado, Regis and Colorado Christian last weekend in Denver to claim the RMAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Jenny Glenn, a four-time RMAC Coach of the Year, is now in her ninth season at the helm of the MSU Denver women's volleyball program, holding an overall record of 219-49 during her time in Denver. The Roadrunners have qualified for 24 straight NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Regional Finals in each of the last three seasons. 
 
AVCA & D2CCA Regional Player of the Year Riley Anderson leads the way offensively for the Roadrunners as the senior from Monument, Colorado has registered 340 kills to hit .301 on the season with 25 assists, 24 aces, 168 digs and 65 blocks to average 4.07 points per set.
 
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Saturday afternoon marks the 29th all-time meeting between the Lady Buffs and Roadrunners as WT holds a 19-9 advantage in the series that dates back to 1986. The last three postseason meetings between the two historic programs have come in the South Central Regional Finals (2021, 2022, 2023) with the Lady Buffs winning all three meetings. It is the third neutral site postseason meeting between the two teams with the others coming in Kearney, Nebraska in 2005 (L, 0-3) and 2007 (W, 3-1).
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Lady Buffs are making the program's 31st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, winning the South Central Regional Title in each of the last three seasons. The 31 trips are the fifth most in Division II history behind Tampa (39), New Haven (37), Central Missouri (36) and Florida Southern (34). The Lady Buffs are 66-26 (.717) all-time in the NCAA Tournament with four National Championships (1990, 1991, 1997, 2022). The 66 victories by the Lady Buffs in the NCAA Tournament are the third most in DII Volleyball history behind only Tampa (86) and Concordia-St. Paul (81).
 
ALL-REGION ACCOLADES
West Texas A&M's Emma Becker, Bryli Contreras and Taytum Stow were honored for their efforts on the court as they claimed All-Region accolades from the AVCA. Stow was also named to the D2CCA All-Region First Team.
 
Becker and Stow were named to the AVCA South Central Region First Team while Contreras claimed Honorable Mention honors. Becker and Stow now move onto the national ballot for potential AVCA All-American accolades while Stow is also on the D2CCA All-American ballot at middle blocker.
 
A NEW ERA
For the first time since the 2019 season, the Lady Buffs are under the guidance of a new head coach as Brittany Harry was named the 16th leader of WT Volleyball on March 19, 2024.
 
Harry was named the 2024 Lone Star Conference of the Year after leading the Lady Buffs to a perfect 16-0 mark in league action to win the program's 22nd regular season league title. The unbeaten mark in LSC play marked the 16th time the Lady Buffs had a flawless league record.
 
Harry, the 2022 LSC Coach of the Year, served as the head coach at Texas A&M International for four seasons. In 2022, Harry set a program record with 23 victories to lead the Dustdevils into the LSC postseason for the second time in school history. She led her team to the best turnaround in all of NCAA Division II volleyball with a +18 win differential from 2021 to 2022.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE AVCA POLL
The Lady Buffs are ranked eighth in this week's edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top-25 Poll. It marks the 315th time since 1986 that the Lady Buffs appear in the poll, the sixth most in Division II history. WT has sat atop of the poll 28 different times.
 
THIS DAY IN WT VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Lady Buffs are 4-0 all-time in matches played on December 7th.
 
1991 - vs. Gannon (W, 3-0) - NCAA National Quarterfinals - Amarillo, TX
1997 - vs. Barry (W, 3-2) - NCAA National Finals - Bakersfield, CA
2013 - vs. Angelo State (W, 3-1) - NCAA Regional Finals - Canyon, TX
2023 - vs. Clarion (W, 3-0) - NCAA National Quarterfinals - Moon Township, PA
 
PLAYING IN THE CONCHO VALLEY
The Lady Buffs are in San Angelo for the South Central Regional Championships for the first time. Angelo State hosts the program's second NCAA Tournament, the first since 2016. West Texas A&M is 40-16 all-time in the Concho Valley.
 
WT opponents in San Angelo: Abilene Christian (3-0), Angelo State (23-15), Eastern New Mexico (1-0), Florida Southern (1-0), Lubbock Christian (1-0), Midwestern State (1-0), Missouri-St. Louis (1-0), Oklahoma Christian (1-0), St. Edward's (1-0), Tarleton State (1-0), Texas A&M-Commerce (1-0), Texas A&M-Kingsville (1-0), Texas Lutheran (1-0), Texas Woman's (1-0), UT Permian Basin (1-0) and UT Tyler (1-1).
 
ONE LAST RIDE
The 2024 version of the Lady Buffs features eight seniors. Camy Jones is closing out her fifth season, winning three Regional Titles and registering an overall record of 128-21. Blair Moreland's four-year record with the Lady Buffs is 118-17 while Zahria Parker, Ainsley Malis, Bryli Contreras and Angelina Oliver came to Canyon in 2022, winning a National Championship and holding a mark of 92-12. Brynne Wright is 59-8 over the last two years while Getsemani Carrasco joined the Lady Buffs for her final collegiate season this past summer.