West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team will look to make history on Thursday night when they search for their first-ever NCAA Tournament win in only their second appearance in program history. Making their second consecutive postseason appearance, the Hilltoppers are set to face the hosts and top seed in the region, No. 25 Gannon, in the tournament's first round at 5 p.m. in the Highmark Events Center.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Erie, Pa. (Highmark Events Center)
• Spectator Entrance: Spectators are asked to enter the Highmark Events Center through the main doors on Peach Street. No entrance will be allowed via the doors connecting the Waldron Center. Tickets will be available for purchase at the front door ticket windows.
• First Serve: 5 P.M.
• Live Stream (Pay-Per-View): For the 2023-24 academic year, all rounds of the Division II Volleyball Championship will be streamed on the Hudl platform. Users will be able to access this content through ncaa.com and an OTT app – "NCAA Championships Pass" – available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV devices. Fans will have three viewing options: $9.95 per contest or $29.95 for all Division II Volleyball Championship games.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Thursday's match with a record of 23-9 (10-4 MEC) following a 5-set loss to West Virginia State in the MEC Tournament Semifinals nearly two weeks ago. The Hilltoppers finished second in the North Division of the Mountain East Conference standings and have won nine of their last 12 matches.
• For the second consecutive year the Hilltoppers appeared in all three of the NCAA's regional rankings en route to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
• A total of four Hilltoppers were selected to the All-MEC teams, as Nyia Setla, Katelynn Fritz, Liv McAtee, and Dakoda Keni received recognition on Wednesday afternoon. Setla was named All-MEC First Team and was the MEC Libero of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Fritz, McAtee, and Keni earned All-MEC Honorable Mention honors. Keni was also selected to the All-MEC Freshman Team.
• Setla also picked up a pair of all-region accolades on Wednesday, earning First Team All-Atlantic Region by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and was named Second Team All-Atlantic Region by the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).
• Through 32 matches this season WLU is hitting .194 while averaging 12.2 kills, 11.4 assists, 1.6 aces, 16.7 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set.
• Entering the postseason, the Hilltoppers rank within the top-30 of NCAA Division II in five statistical categories, ranking 11^th in total attacks (4,441), 14^th in total digs (2,051), 25^th in total assists (1,403), 27^th in total kills (1,506), and 30^th in opponent hitting percentage (0.149).
• Fritz is among the top-10 of the individual leaders in the MEC with 340 total kills which is ninth most in the league. She is averaging 2.83 kills per set with a .190 attack percentage.
• McAtee and Leah Driscoll are second and third on the team respectively with 275 and 262 kills. McAtee has notched 2.37 kills per set with a .226 attack percentage, while Driscoll has collected 2.76 kills per set and has a .199 attack percentage.
• Keni has been among the top freshman setters in the country this season, having tallied 1,037 assists which is third` in the MEC and is the sixth most by a freshman in DII. Keni has been averaging 8.43 assists per set, which is fourth best in the conference. She currently holds and is adding to the WLU single-season record mark for single-season assists, breaking the record in a win at Fairmont State on November 3. She is the first player in program history to ever reach the 1,000 assist mark in a season.
• Bella Dart and Setla lead the Hilltoppers at the service line, as both have recorded 37 service aces to average 0.34 and 0.32 aces per set.
• Setla, the leader of the West Liberty defense, has collected 573 digs on the season, which ranks second in the MEC and is the 19^th most in DII. She is also second in the conference and 32^nd nationally with 5.03 digs per set.
• Grace Hill leads the Hilltoppers at the net and ranks fifth in the league with 102.0 total blocks and an average of 0.95 blocks per set. Page Gross has added 67.0 blocks and is averaging 0.62 blocks per set.
• Riley Jarrett is in her fourth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 72-39 with the Hilltoppers.

#25 GANNON STORYLINES

• Gannon enters Thursday's match with a record of 26-4 (14-2 PSAC) following a 5-set win over Clarion in the PSAC Conference Tournament Championship. Along with the conference tournament championship, the Knights were champions of the PSAC West Division and will be making their 14^th consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.
• The Knights had four players recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as Journey Blevins, Emma Hall, and Hailey Koch were named All-Atlantic Region First Team and Madde Blake was All-Atlantic Region Honorable Mention. Blevins and Hall were also named to the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-Atlantic Region First Team.
• Through 30 matches this season GU is hitting .233 while averaging 13.1 kills, 12.2 assists, 1.7 aces, 16.0 digs, and 2.3 blocks per set.
• Entering the postseason, the Knights rank within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in five statistical categories, ranking tenth in total assists (1,450) and total blocks (272.0), 13^th in total kills (1,558), 21^st in blocks per set (2.37), and 22^nd in assists per set (12.61).
• Blevins leads the attack for Gannon, ranking ninth in DII with 491 kills on the year and 11^th with 4.42 kills per set. She has a hitting percentage of .234. Haley Koch is another player to watch when the Knights attack, totaling 319 kills, averaging 2.80 kills per set with a .277 attack percentage.
• The duo of Marta Roicka and Bengisu Arslan have both notched over 500 assists this season, with Roicka leading the way with 670 and an average of 6.91 assists per set. Arslan has totaled 539 assists with 7.19 assists per set.
• Hall leads Gannon defensively as she ranks 11^th nationally with 596 digs and is 20^th in the country with 5.18 digs per set. Blevins and Blake also add 247 and 244 digs respectively.
• Lauren Atwell leads the Knights at the net, totaling 103 blocks and averaging 1.02 blocks per set. Koch and Ali Sorenson also add 87 blocks apiece.
• Matt Darling is in his 17^th season as the head coach at Gannon, posting a 405-142 record during his time with the Knights.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty and Gannon have met only once, a 3-0 sweep for the Knights on September 13, 2014 in the Hammermill Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.