#20 West Texas A&M (22-7) vs. CSU Pueblo (20-8)
Date & Time	Thursday, December 4th - 8:00 p.m. CT
Location	Denver, Colorado - Auraria Event Center
Live Statistics	Link
Live Video	RMAC Network
Additional Links	Game Notes | Championship Central

CANYON, Texas – The #20 Lady Buffs open up the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night as they battle the fifth-seeded ThunderWolves of CSU Pueblo in the South Central Regional Quarterfinals with first serve set for 8:00 p.m. CT at the Auraria Event Center in Denver, Colorado.
 
CSU PUEBLO
The ThunderWolves enter the NCAA Tournament with a 20-8 record, reaching the 20-win mark for the first time since 2021. CSUP went 11-3 during RMAC action to finish third in the league standings. The ThunderWolves topped Westminster in the RMAC quarterfinals before falling in three sets to UCCS in the semifinal round.
 
Colorado State Pueblo is making the program's fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament (1996, 1997, 2021, 2022, 2025) as they look to claim their first tournament victory on Thursday night.
 
CSU Pueblo carries a decorated résumé into the regional behind two of the RMAC's major award winners. Senior outside hitter Caelyn Gunn was named RMAC Player of the Year—the first in CSU Pueblo history—after a standout season on the attack. The senior from Denton, Texas has registered 391 kills on 1,112 swings for an attack percentage of .223 to go along with 27 assists, 18 aces, 321 digs and 32 total blocks.
 
Junior setter Elena Stankovic earned RMAC Setter of the Year honors, becoming the program's first winner of the award while operating one of the conference's most efficient offenses. Both Gunn and Stankovic were First Team All-RMAC selections. Stankovic dished out 898 assists to average 9.76 assists per set with a team-best 36 service aces and 212 digs.
 
CSUP HEAD COACH JORDAN BRUERE
CSU Pueblo alumnus Jordan Bruere is in her first season at the helm of the ThunderWolves volleyball program. She has led CSUP to the best debut by a first year head coach in program history. 
 
Bruere came to Pueblo after spending the previous two seasons as the head volleyball coach at Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Western Colorado University. In her two seasons with the Mountaineers, she took a team that improved from two victories in her first season in 2023 to 12 victories and a spot in the RMAC Tournament after finishing 7-7 in league play during the 2024 season. The program finished 13th in the league in 2023 before finishing eighth in 2024 and advancing to the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2021.
 
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Thursday night marks the 11th all-time meeting between the Lady Buffs and ThunderWolves. WT is a perfect 10-0 in a series that dates back to 1980. The Regional Quarterfinals will be the first ever postseason meeting between the two teams, it will be the second matchup in Denver as the Lady Buffs swept past CSUP on September 5, 1998 during the Colorado Premier.
 
The two teams will meet for the third time this season as the Lady Buffs claimed sweeps over the ThunderWolves on September 5 and 6 during the BritKare Lady Buff Classic in Canyon.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Lady Buffs are making the program's 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 32 trips are the fifth most in Division II history behind Tampa (40), New Haven (37), Central Missouri (36) and Florida Southern (34). 
 
The Lady Buffs are 66-27 (.710) 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 is the third most in DII Volleyball history behind only Tampa (87) and Concordia-St. Paul (81).
 
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
West Texas A&M is fortunate to have senior leadership with experience in the NCAA Tournament. Emma Becker and Taytum Stow are the two remaining members of the 2022 National Championship squad for the Lady Buffs. Becker and Stow are an incredible 12-2 in a WT uniform during the NCAA Tournament with a pair of South Central Regional Championships and two trips to the DII National Title match.
 
THE GAMBLE ERA
Three-time National Champion and NJCAA Hall of Famer Terry Gamble was named the 17th head coach in Lady Buff Volleyball history on February 4, 2025. Gamble becomes the sixth head coach in West Texas A&M history to lead the Lady Buffs to the NCAA Tournament during their inaugural season at the helm.
 
Gamble has compiled a record of 1,124-356 (.759) as he is just the third head coach in NJCAA history to reach 1,000 career wins on October 15, 2024. Gamble came to Canyon following seven seasons at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. Gamble was named the Regional Coach of the Year for the third time, leading Blinn College to their fifth straight NJCAA National Tournament. He was inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007 after winning three NJCAA volleyball championships (2000, 2004, 2006) and three NJCAA Coach of the Year awards.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE AVCA POLL
The Lady Buffs sit tied for 20th in the newest edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top-25 Poll announced on November 24th. It marks the 329th 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 including twice during the 2023 campaign.
 
THIS DAY IN WT VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Lady Buffs are 3-2 all-time in matches played on December 4th.
 
1992 - vs. Northern Michigan - L, 3-0
1997 - vs. New Haven - W, 3-0
1998 - at MSU Denver - L, 3-0
2009 - vs. Flager - W, 3-1
2021 - at MSU Denver - W, 3-2