The UMSL women are 30-1 this season, after winning the Midwest Regional and advancing to the national Final Four last year. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

NORMANDY, MO — The biggest event in the history of University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s volleyball will take place this weekend, when the Tritons host the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship Tournament at the Mark Twain Building on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

UMSL, which won the regional title last year and has a 30-1 record this year, will serve as the event’s No. 1 seed and favorite to win. But the Tritons will be tested with potential matchups against No. 2 seed Ferris State, champions of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, No. 3 seed Lewis, the team that beat UMSL in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship game last week, or No. 7 seed Hillsdale, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference champions.

Other familiar faces at the Midwest Regional include No. 4 seed Quincy, No. 5 seed Grand Valley State, which lost to Ferris State in the GLIAC championship game, No. 6 seed Rockhurst, and No. 8 seed Missouri S&T.

UMSL will begin play at the regional with a match against S&T. It’ll be the third time the Tritons and Miners have played this season, with UMSL having won both previous matches in four sets.

Opening serve for Thursday’s match is set for 5 p.m.

That contest will be the third of four matches to be played on the Mark Twain Building floor. Rockhurst and Lewis will begin the day at noon, followed by Hillsdale and Ferris State.

UMSL and S&T will take the floor next, followed by the nightcap of Grand Valley State versus Quincy.

Thursday’s winners will advance to Friday’s semifinals, which will be played at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., with the winners of those matches advancing to Saturday’s regional championship match at 7 p.m.

The winner of the tournament will advance to the NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Elite Eight, which will be played next weekend at Robert Morris University’s UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, Penn.

Last year, UMSL won its first ever Midwest Region championship and advanced all the way to the national semifinals, before falling to eventual national champion, West Texas A&M.

THURSDAY’S QUARTERFINAL
UMSL is making their seventh appearance overall in the NCAA Tournament, fifth since 2010 and fourth straight. UMSL has won five of its last seven matches in the tournament and went 4-1 last season on its way to the national semifinals.

The Tritons continue to rank as one of the top offenses in Division II this season. They’re ranked second in the country in kills per set at 15.08 and in assists per set with 13.99. They’re also third in hitting percentage at .289. Caitlin Bishop ranks second nationally in assists per set with 12.28 and is sixth in total assists at 1,265. Delaney Humm and Lexie Rang are 18th and 19th in kills per set with 4.21 and 4.17 respectively.

The Miners are making their third appearance overall in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2014. S&T is 0-2 all-time in the tournament losing to Hillsdale in 2011 and Grand Valley State in 2014.

The Miners enter Thursday’s contest with a record of 18-10 and are 7-2 in their last nine matches with both losses against UMSL. S&T won seven straight contests in between those two losses.

The Miners are one of the top blocking teams in the GLVC averaging 2.14 blocks per set and are led by Shelby Ply and Madelyn Mason with 0.94 and 0.80 per set.

Offensively, S&T is averaging 12.8 kills per set with an attack percentage of .212 and are led by Mason and Jordan Burton with 3.17 and 3.08 per set. Annie Arand leads the team with an average of 5.75 assists per set while Elise Mehaffy is averaging 5.08 assists per set.

Defensively, the Miners are averaging 15.6 digs per set and are led by Mia Alessio with 4.04 digs per set.

UMSL sports information contributed to this story.

2023 NCAA Midwest Region Tournament
Quarterfinals – Thursday, November 30 – Normandy, Mo. (Mark Twain Building)
Match 1 – No. 3 Lewis (26-6) vs. No. 6 Rockhurst (21-7) – 12 pm
Match 2 – No. 2 Ferris State (25-7) vs. No. 7 Hillsdale (27-6) – 2:30 pm
Match 3 – No. 1 UMSL (30-1) vs. No. 8 Missouri S&T (18-10) – 5 pm
Match 4 – No. 4 Quincy (24-5) vs. No. 5 Grand Valley State (26-4) – 7:30 pm

Semifinals – Friday, December 1 – Normandy, Mo. (Mark Twain Building)
Semifinal 1 – Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner – 5 pm
Semifinal 2 – Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner – 7:30 pm

Championship Game – Saturday, December 2 – Normandy, Mo. (Mark Twain Building)
Midwest Region Championship – Semifinal winners – 7 pm