MARSHALL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State (28-3), which gets set to open the 2017 NCAA Central Region Tournament as the top-seeded team in the Central Region for the first time since 2010, will host eighth-seeded, and undefeated Arkansas Tech (35-0) in the first round of this year's Division II NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in the PE Gym.
 

Central Region Quarterfinal Pairings
    Nov. 30, 12:00 p.m.
QF 1: No. 7 Central Oklahoma (29-5) vs. No. 2 Concordia St. Paul (28-3)
    Nov. 30, 2:30 p.m.
QF 2: No. 6 Missouri Western (24-10) vs. No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney (33-3)
    Nov. 30, 5:00 p.m.
QF 3: No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (24-6) vs. No. 4 Northern State (23-6)
    Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m.
QF 4: No. 8 Arkansas Tech (35-0) vs. No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State (26-3)

SMSU NCAA Tourney History
- SMSU is making its 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and its 15th appearance overall
- NCAA Tournament Overall Record: 16-14
    - Central Region Quarterfinal Record: 10-4
    - Central Region Semifinal Record: 3-7
    - Central Region Championship Record: 1-2
    - NCAA Elite Eight: 1-0
    - NCAA Final Four: 1-0
    - NCAA Championship: 0-1
    - Years in NCAA Tournament: '01, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17
- SMSU captured its first NCAA Tournament win with a 3-0 victory over MSU Moorhead back in the 2005 Central Region Tournament
- The Mustangs earned their first Central Region semifinal win and first Sweet 16 appearance in 2011 with a 3-1 win over Colorado School of Mines
- SMSU won its first and only NCAA Central Region championship in 2014 with a 3-1 win over Minnesota Duluth
- The Mustangs, following the only region championship in school history, advanced all the way to the DII National Championship in 2014
- SMSU defeated Sanoma State (Calif.), 3-2 in the 2014 NCAA Elite Eight and followed up with a 3-0 victory over Grand Valley State in the NCAA Final Four
- The Mustangs fell in four sets to Tampa in the only national championship appearance in school history back in 2014

2016 Regional Recap
- Top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul defeated SMSU in the 2016 Central Region Championship en route to a national championship victory for CSP
- SMSU defeated Wayne State, 3-1 in the second quarterfinal match on day one of the 2016 regional
- The Mustangs won a back-and-forth, five-set semifinal match on day two of the 2016 regional over Augustana
- Taylor Reiss led the tournament with 4.67 k/set and 5.39 pts/set and Eisha Oden led the regional with a .571 hitting percentage
- Megan Larson led all players over the weekend with 13.0 assists per set
- Reiss, Larson, and Oden were each named to the 2016 Central Region All-Tournament team

Arkansas Tech: Match Preview
    Arkansas Tech/ GAC Series History
- Thursday's match will mark the first ever meeting between SMSU and Arkansas Tech
- Southwest Minnesota State is 3-2 all-time against schools from the Great American Conference (GAC)
- Thursday's match against Arkansas Tech will mark the first match against a GAC school in the Mustangs' NCAA Tournament history
- The last time SMSU faced a GAC opponent was in the North Alabama Classic in 2000
    Arkansas Tech Team Notes
- Overall Record: 35-0 (16-0 GAC)
- Road Record: 11-0
- Record vs AVCA Top-25: 2-0
- Golden Suns enter the NCAA Central Region Tournament coming off of a perfect 32-0 regular season followed by three straight wins to capture the GAC Tournament Championship
    GAC Championship
- Arkansas Tech won a tight five-set match in the GAC Championship match after going up 2-0
- Harding won the third and fourth sets, 25-21 and 25-20 before Arkansas Tech kept its perfect season alive with a 15-11 win in the fifth to secure the GAC Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Regional
    Head Coach- Kristy Bayer (Grand Valley State '01)
- The Golden Suns have now won five GAC Championships ('11, '13, '14, '15, '17) under Head Coach Kristy Bayer
- Bayer began her coaching career with Arkansas Tech and has a career record of 365-132
- Four of the five NCAA Tournament appearances for Ark. Tech have come during Bayer's tenure as head coach ('11, '13, '14, '17)
    Arkansas Tech NCAA Tournament History
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 5 ('00, '11, '13, '14, '17)
- NCAA Tournament record: 1-4

To Be the Best; Beat the Best
- SMSU has gone 11-3 against ranked opponents this season which includes a stretch of six straight matches against ranked opponents
- SMSU has a 5-2 record against AVCA Top-10 opponents this season
- SMSU has defeated a No. 1 ranked opponent twice this season (3-1 vs CSP, 9/9; 3-0 at CSP, 11/19)
-The Mustangs had wins over three of the eight NCAA Region Champions during the 2016 season (Concordia-St. Paul, Palm Beach Atl., Angelo State)
- The Mustangs have been ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Top-25 in five different polls this season and have been ranked No. 2 in five polls

NSIC Tournament Champs
- Southwest Minnesota State swept Concordia-St. Paul in the NSIC Championship match on Nov. 19 to secure an automatic bid into the NCAA regional
- The Mustangs defeated Upper Iowa, 3-1 in the NSIC Quarterfinals before traveling to top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul for the final two rounds of the tournament
- SMSU defeated Augustana, 3-2 after falling behind, 2-1 in the NSIC Semifinals
- SMSU swept CSP, 25-19, 25-21, 25-14 in a rematch of the 2016 NSIC Championship
- Taylor Reiss tied an NSIC Tournament record with 31 kills against Upper Iowa in the quarterfinal round before setting the record with 41 kills against Augustana in the semifinal win for SMSU
- Reiss was named the NSIC Tournament MVP while Kaylee Burmeister and Megan Larson were also named to the all-tournament team

Reiss: Attacking Records
- Taylor Reiss set new SMSU record for attack attempts in single match (90) and kills in a single match (41) in the Mustangs' NSIC semifinal win over Augustana on Nov. 18
- Reiss also set an NSIC Tournament record with her 41 kills against Augustana after tying the record with 31 kills in the quarterfinal against Upper Iowa
- Reiss has put up 25 plus kills in each of her last three matches and has a hitting percentage over .300 in her last six matches overall
- In addition to six matches with at least 20 kills and 20 digs, Reiss has at least 20 kills in 12 different matches this season
- Reiss is one of just three players in the top-10 in career kills with a career hitting percentage over .300 and her 578 kills gives her the fourth most for a single season in school history
    SMSU Career Kills per set (minimum 150 sets)
1. 5.16 - Erin Contons (483 sets) - 2004-07
2. 4.66 - Taylor Reiss (312 sets) - 2015-17
3. 4.54 - Pam Tomasek (157 sets) - 1981-84
    SMSU Career Points per set (minimum 150 sets)
1. 5.79 - Pam Tomasek (157 sets) - 1981-84
2. 5.75 - Erin Contons (483 sets) - 2004-07
3. 5.31 - Taylor Reiss (312 sets) - 2015-17
    SMSU Career Kills
1. 2494 - Erin Contons (.242) - 2004-07
5. 1612 - Mary Groth (.305) - 2009-12
6. 1550 - Brooke Burmeister (.237) - 2009-12
7. 1455 - Taylor Reiss (.311) - 2015-17
    Kills in NSIC Tournament Match
1. 41- Taylor Reiss vs AU (SMSU) (Nov. 18, 2017)
T-2 31 - Taylor Reiss vs UIU (SMSU) (Nov. 15, 2017)
T-2 31- Mariah Scharf (UMD) at WSC  (Nov. 18, 2015)
    SMSU Kills in a Single Match
1.  41, Reiss, Taylor; vs Augustana; Nov 18, 2017
2.  38, Beth Elliott; MSU Moorhead; 9/26/90
3.  37, Contons, Erin; vs Northern State Univ; Oct 07, 2006
4.  35, Reiss, Taylor; at Lewis; Sep 03, 2016
    SMSU Kills in a Single Season
1. 737 - Erin Contons (.244) - 2006
2. 670 - Beth Elliott (.333) - 1990
3. 667 - Erin Contons (.287) - 2005
4. 578 - Taylor Reiss (.308) - 2017
5. 577 - Taylor Reiss (.298) - 2016

Larson: Setting the Standard
- Megan Larson, who currently ranks No. 1 among active players in all of Division II in career assists, had a season high 65 assists in the NSIC semifinal against Augustana
- Larson, the first SMSU player to surpass 5,000 career assists, also became the all-time leader in career service attempts earlier this season
- Larson has also moved into first in career assists and career assists per set during the 2017 season
- Having played in every match for SMSU during her four years as a Mustang, Larson, has also recently moved into the top-10 in sets played and matches played school history
    NCAA Career Assists (active players only)
Rk. Player No.
1. Megan Larson , Southwest Minn. St. 5,512
2. Casey Klobedans , Tex. A&M-Kingsville 5,103
3. Sydney Trathen , Edinboro 4,578
    SMSU Career Assists per set (minimum 150 sets)
1. 11.34 - Megan Larson (486 sets) - 2014-17
2. 11.21 - Sara Graf (388 sets) - 2006-09
3. 9.85 - Cara Carson (358 sets) - 2008-11
    SMSU Career Assists
1. 5512 - Megan Larson (486 sets) - 2014-17
2. 4348 - Sara Graf (388 sets) - 2006-09
3. 4245 - Sarah Rittenhouse (439 sets) - 2000-03
    SMSU Career Sets Played
1. 591 - Paige Karno - 1992-95
7. 494 - Sarah Quiram - 2004-08
8. 493 - Mary Alice Studer - 1993-96
9. 486 - Megan Larson - 2014-17

Borchardt Breaks Into the Record Books
- Senior middle blocker, Brooke Borchardt, currently has the fourth highest attack percentage for a single season in SMSU history
    SMSU Single Season Attack Percentage
1. .435 - Char Nelson (335-54-646) - 1981
2. .430 - Eisha Oden (368-76-679) - 2016
3. .376 - Sarah Parker (326-63-700) - 2016
4. .372 - Brooke Borchardt (293-72-594) - 2017
- Her five solo blocks on Oct. 21 against Upper Iowa was tied for the fourth most for a single match in school history
- Borchardt's eight block assists against North Alabama in the Mustangs' season opener was tied for the seventh most in a single match in school history

CCA All-Region Honors
- The Mustangs had three players named to the 2017 Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (CCA) Central Region all-region teams
- Taylor Reiss and Brooke Borchardt were each named to the seven-member first team all-region
- Brooke Borchardt was named to the CCA second-team all region team
- The Division II Conference Commissioners Association encourages and promotes Division II athletics and high standards of sportsmanship as important elements of higher education
- A combined total of 10 of the 14 members on the first and second all-region teams will be competing in Marshall at the NCAA regional tournament

CCA Central Region Player of the Year
-  The DII CCA also named Taylor Reiss as the Central Region Player of the Year for a second consecutive season
- Reiss was also named the 2016 CCA Central Region Player of the Year and enters the weekend ranked third in the nation in kills, kills per set, and points per set

Sports Imports/ AVCA National POW
- Taylor Reiss was named the Division II National Player of the Week for a second time this season on Nov. 21, following her record breaking performances during the NSIC Tournament
- Taylor Reiss was also named Sports Imports/ AVCA Division II National Player of the Week for her performance in the Colo. Premier (Sept. 8-9)
- Reiss won the award as a freshman middle blocker back in 2014 and is the fourth SMSU player to do so

NCAA Rankings: Mustangs in the Top-10
Team/ Player                     Category (value)                             NCAA Rk.
SMSU                                 Assists Per Set (14.29)                         1
SMSU                                 Assists (1,600)                                      7
SMSU                                 Kills Per Set (15.37)                              1
SMSU                                 Kills (1,721)                                           6
Taylor Reiss                        Attacks Per Set (12,86)                         6
Taylor Reiss                        Total Attacks (1,440)                             5
Taylor Reiss                        Kills Per Set (5.16)                                3
Taylor Reiss                        Total Kills (578)                                      3
Taylor Reiss                        Points Per Set (5.71)                             3
Megan Larson                     Assists Per Set (12.51)                         3
Megan Larson                     Total Assists (1,401)                              4
Brooke Borchardt                Hitting Percentage (.372)                     16
Sarina Smith                       Hitting Percentage (.366)                     19
Taylor Reiss                        Hitting Percentage (.309)                     96