THE FIRST SERVE
The Southwest Minnesota State University Mustang volleyball team will make its 11th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance as it received the No. 3 seed and will matchup with No. 6 seed Nebraska-Kearney in the first round. SMSU enters the tournament with a 21-9 overall record and is coming off a fourth-place regular season finish in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a 15-5 record. Minnesota Duluth earned the No. 1 seed and the right to host the NCAA Central Region Tournament matches. The Mustangs and Lopers will play at noon on Thursday.

OPPONENT AT A GLANCE
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY — UNK volleyball team received the No. 6 seed for its 16th straight season NCAA Tournament appearance. The Lopers are 27-18 all-time in the NCAA tournament, advancing to the Elite Eight in 2005, 2004, 2003, 1996 and 1995. Kelie Carver leads the Lopers with her 274 kills while hitting .300. Erin Seele powers the offense with 1232 assists. 

THE SERIES
Southwest Minnesota State and Nebraska-Kearney will meet for just the 8th time and the 2nd in the NCAA tournaments on Thursday afternoon with UNK having a 6-1 record in a series that first started back in 1989. Nebraska-Kearney defeated Southwest Minnesota State twice before back in the 2010 and 2012 tournaments. The 2010 loss came while in Marshall when the Mustangs were the top-seed in the region.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
Southwest Minnesota State is 8-11 all-time in its 12 NCAA tournament appearances. SMSU has won four straight NCAA first round matches— Colorado school of Mines (2010), MSU Denver (2011), Truman (2012) and Washburn (2013). The last time SMSU lost an NCAA first round match was in 2009 when MSU Denver defeated SMSU in five sets. SMSU is 7-4 in NCAA tournament first round matches.

NATIONAL NEWS 
SMSU is ranked No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 and is tied with Nebraska-Kearney. The Mustangs have now been ranked in the poll for 118 consecutive weeks, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.