UMSL moves to 34-1 with win over Anderson on Thursday. (Photo courtesy: NCAA.com)
| NCAA Tournament – Quarterfinals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 #7 Anderson 28-6 | 25 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 1 |
 #2 UMSL 34-1 | 19 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Nora Nichols
Staff Writer
MOON TOWNSHIP, PA — The University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s volleyball team is headed back to the Final Four.
That’s what the Tritons accomplished on Thursday, when they defeated Anderson University, three sets to one, in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal match at Pennsylvania Western’s UPMC Center.
UMSL will play Cal State-Los Angeles in the semifinals on Friday, with the winner advancing to the D2 national championship game on Saturday.
On Thursday, UMSL got another huge day from its big hitters Lexie Rang and Delaney Humm, and setter Caitlin Bishop. All three players who were named All-Americans earlier in the day by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), put on an all-american show in the team’s national quarterfinal match against Anderson.
Rang had a match-high 23 kills and added 12 digs, while Humm posted 16 kills and Bishop had 53 assists.
Anderson actually won the first set, 25-19. But UMSL stormed through in the final three sets, winning by scores of 25-20, 25-19, and 25-21.
The victory earned UMSL its second straight trip to the NCAA national semifinals — also known as the Final Four. The Tritons were the nation’s No. 1 surprise team last year, where they pulled off upset after upset to reach the Final Four for the first time in school history.
This season, the Tritons look like they may simply be the best team in the country, as they’ve extended their program-best record to 34-1.
Cal State-LA is the team in the position UMSL was last year. The Eagles (22-10) were surprise winners of the West Regional championship and then pulled off an amazing five-set upset win over Wayne State on Thursday to reach the semifinals. This is that program’s first trip to the Final Four, just as it was for UMSL last year.
First serve for Friday’s match is scheduled for 4 p.m., with the other semifinal set to follow at 6:30.
The two semifinal winners will play in the national championship game on Saturday, which is also set to begin at 4 p.m.
| #7 ANDERSON (1) | ATTACK | SET | SERVE | SRV | DEF | BLOCK | GEN | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO | NAME | S | K | E | TA | PCT | A | SA | SE | RE | DIG | BS | BA | BE | BHE | PTS |
| 12 | BRANTLEY CHIPLEY | 4 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 0.050 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 11.5 |
| 2 | JAELYN GRIMM | 4 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 0.348 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | JENNA LONG | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 0.000 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4.5 |
| 11 | RYLIE SARGENT | 4 | 10 | 5 | 34 | 0.147 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 |
| 8 | KATY SMITH | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | TABITHA WHEELER | 4 | 15 | 4 | 44 | 0.250 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 16.5 |
| 22 | SAVANNAH COX | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | LINDSAY MCCURLEY | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | HANNAH NEFF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -0.333 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | AVA REEVES | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MEG SANSBURY | 4 | 4 | 5 | 25 | -0.040 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| #2 UMSL (3) | ATTACK | SET | SERVE | SRV | DEF | BLOCK | GEN | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO | NAME | S | K | E | TA | PCT | A | SA | SE | RE | DIG | BS | BA | BE | BHE | PTS |
| 5 | CAITLIN BISHOP | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.333 | 53 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| 17 | HANNAH COPELAND | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 0.083 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | RYLEE EDSON | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | MYA ELLIOTT | 4 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 0.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.5 |
| 1 | HAILEY FLOWERS | 4 | 10 | 3 | 32 | 0.219 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 18 | LEXIE RANG | 4 | 23 | 9 | 66 | 0.212 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 9 | KYLIE ADAMS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | TRYSTA FOSTER | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | DELANEY HUMM | 4 | 16 | 7 | 34 | 0.265 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 12 | SKYLAR WEAVER | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Tournament
Quarterfinals – Thursday, December 7 – Moon Township, Pa. (UPMC Events Center)
Match 1 – No. 3 Wayne State (31-2) vs. No. 6 Cal State-LA (21-10) – Wayne State won 3-2
Match 2 – No. 2 UMSL (33-1) vs. No. 7 Anderson (28-5) – UMSL won 3-1
Match 3 – No. 4 West Texas A&M (31-3) vs. No. 5 Clarion (28-6) – West Texas A&M won 3-0
Match 4 – No. 1 Tampa (31-1) vs. No. 8 Bentley (25-6) – Tampa won 3-1
Semifinals – Friday, December 8 – Moon Township, Pa. (UPMC Events Center)
Semifinal 1 – #6 Cal State-LA vs. #2 UMSL – 4 pm
Semifinal 2 – #4 West Texas A&M vs. #1 Tampa – 6:30 pm
Championship Game – Saturday, December 9 – Moon Township, Pa. UPMC Events Center)
Championship Game – Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner – 4 pm