MARSHALL, Minn. – Fifth seed, Southwest Minnesota State, will face the fourth seed, Concordia-St. Paul, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in Kearney, Neb., at the Health & Sports Center in a quarterfinal match of the NCAA DII Central Region tournament. The No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team earned a bid for the NCAA DII Central Region tournament for the 15th straight season, announced on Sunday night. 
 
The Mustangs were one of four NSIC teams to make the tournament; Concordia-St. Paul (4th seed), SMSU (5th seed), NSIC Tournament Champions, Minnesota Duluth (2nd seed), and Northern State (6th seed).
 
NSIC Tournament Notes
SMSU fell 3-1 in the championship against Minnesota Duluth (25-17,25-23,23-25,25-22). NSIC Player of the Year, Taylor Reiss, missed the match due to an injury. SMSU defeated Northern State in five sets to advance to the championship (25-16,25-17,23-25,26-28,15-9) against UMD after hosting Wayne State for a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Reiss and fellow senior, Kaylee Burmeister, were both named to the all-tournament team. 
 
SMSU Notes
SMSU earns its 15th straight appearance at the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament. SMSU is 17-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with one region championship and NCAA national runner-up finish in 2014. The Mustangs have advanced to the region championship match three times in 2011, 2014 and 2016. SMSU stayed at No. 7 in the latest AVCA Top-25 poll released on Monday. Reiss leads the team with 644 kills with 5.80 kills per set with a .310 hitting percentage. Reiss leads the nation in attacks per set (14.52), kills per set (5.80), and total kills (644). Angela Young comes in second with 312 kills recorded. Emma Thomssen has 1,366 assists this season with a 12.53 assists per set average, to rank fourth in the national in her average and fifth in total assists. Kaylee Burmeister leads the team in digs with 488 while Sarina Smith leads in blocks with 75 total (13 solo and 62 assists).
 
Concordia-St. Paul Notes
Concordia-St. Paul earned the fourth seed in the NSIC tournament and fell 3-1 in the quarterfinals to Sioux Falls (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21).  CSP dropped from second in the final region rankings to fourth after being knocked out of the NSIC Tournament by Sioux Falls in the opening round on Tuesday. The Golden Bears have made it into the NCAA Tournament field in all 16 seasons under head coach Brady Starkey and have won 11 Central Region titles during that span. CSP has nine NCAA DII National Championships with seven in a row. Four Golden Bear's earned All-NSIC first team honors, Brooklyn Lewis, Sara Macek, Elizabeth Mohr, and Hope Schiller. Tori Hanson earned All-NSIC second team. Lewis leads the team in kills with 400 and 3.74 kills per set with a .321 hitting percentage. Mohr has recorded 1,407 assists this season with a 13.15 assist per set. CSP has earned 173 service aces over 98 per its opponents. Hanson has dished out 471 digs this season with 4.40 digs per set. Macek leads blocking with 76 total, with 12 solo and 64 block assists. CSP ended conference play as the leader in assists per set and kills per set.
 
Series History
Thursday's match at the NCAA DII Regional quarterfinals marks the fourth meeting between the two teams' this season with CSP leading 2-1. The Mustangs won the last meeting at home in four-sets over the then-ranked, No. 1 Golden Bears (18-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-18). on Oct. 26. SMSU's Taylor Reiss led the match with 32 kills in the Mustangs' victory. SMSU has met CSP in the Regional Tournament five times where CSP leads the record 4-1. CSP leads the all-time series, 36-27, where SMSU opened the series with a 19-match winning streak. 
 
Tournament Information
SMSU (23-8) will face No. 4 seed Concordia-St. Paul (22-8) in the tournament quarterfinals Thursday at 5 p.m. The two teams played three times this season with CSP winning 3-0 in the championship match of the Colorado Premier Challenge on Sept. 1, and then earning a 3-2 victory in St. Paul on Sept. 22. SMSU won the third meeting, 3-1 in Marshall on Oct. 26.  SMSU enters the NCAA Tournament having faced 13th nationally ranked teams this season compiling an 8-5 record. SMSU is 17-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with one region championship and NCAA national runner-up finish in 2014. The Mustangs have advanced to the region championship match three times in 2011, 2014 and 2016. Seven of the eight teams in the tournament were ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA Top-25 poll announced on Monday, Nov. 12.
 
NCAA DII Central Region Competition
No. 1 Nebraska Kearney
• Nebraska-Kearney, which won both the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), regular season and tournament championship, is the region's No. 1 seed. 
• Nebraska-Kearney and SMSU have met eight times in which Nebraska-Kearney leads the series, 6-2. 
• The series dating back to 1989 includes the latest three at in the NCAA Regional Tournament. 
• The Mustangs won the last match-up in five sets in 2014 (26-24,25-17,24-26,21-25,15-9) in which the Mustangs went on to advance to the NCAA National Tournament. 
 
No. 2 Minnesota Duluth
• Minnesota Duluth, fellow member of the NSIC, were 2018 co-regular season champions and NSIC tournament champions. 
• SMSU fell to UMD in four-sets in the tournament championship (17-25,23-25,25-23,22-25). 
• UMD leads the series 67-19 dating back to 1973. 
 
No. 3 Washburn 
• Washburn (Kan.) from the MIAA conference earned the No. 3 seed.
• SMSU is undefeated going 2-0 against Washburn in an all-time series record. 
• Both meetings were in the NCAA Regional Tournament. 
• SMSU won the last meeting on Dec. 3, 2015 in three-sets (25-16, 25-18, 25-13).
 
No. 6 Northern State
• SMSU leads the all-time series 58-10. 
• The Mustangs defeated the Wolves in the semifinal to head to the championship match. 
• The Mustangs are 2-0 this season against NSU, the first occurred with a sweep in Marshall on Oct. 20. The Wolves were then-ranked No. 1. (30-28,25-22,25-17). 
 
No. 7 Central Missouri
• Central Missouri from the MIAA conference earned the seventh seed. 
• SMSU won the only match in the all-time series on Sept. 3, 2011 with a sweep 
(25-18,25-23,25-15). 
 
No. 8 Harding
• Harding (Ark.), won the Great American Conference Tournament 
championship on Saturday.
• The Mustangs lost the only match played between the two teams' in 1992 in the Graceland Tournament.