Kearney, Neb. – The 13th-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team is in the NCAA Tournament for the 27th time and will face seventh-ranked Southwest Minnesota State Thursday afternoon in a first-round Central Regional match.

The Lopers (28-5) and Mustangs (23-6) start off the day at 12 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn. The winner advances to a 5 p.m. match on Friday against the winner of third-ranked Wayne State (28-2) and 15th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth (18-0).

The match is available via The MIAA Network, The River 93.1/106.9 KRVN FM and live stats. There's also a tourney website that includes links to post-match press conferences.

UNK upset SMSU, 3-1, in the second round of the 2010 regional held in Marshall. Two years later, the Lopers did it again, beating the 'Stangs in four sets in a second-round match held in St. Paul. Southwest got its revenge in 2014 as they got past UNK in five sets in a first-round match played in Duluth. Overall, UNK is 6-2 all-time against Southwest. 

This SMSU squad is led by four all-conference players including 6-2 outside hitter Leah Jones, the 2023 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conf. (NSIC) Freshman of the Year. The hometown product leads her team in kills (3.14) and is third in digs (2.41).

Southwest is 5-0 in neutral site matches with UNK at 8-1. The 'Stangs suffered a home loss to Concordia-St. Paul (28-2) in its regular season finale and then fell to Duluth in four sets in the first-round of the NSIC Tournament. Their other setbacks came to Wayne (two), Concordia (away) and Spring Hill (Ala.), a 2023 NCAA tourney qualifier in the South.  

Besides Jones, six-foot junior outside Saari Kuehl (2.79 kills), senior setter Alisa Bengen (10.3 assists, 3.08 digs & 26 aces) and sophomore libero McKenzie Tolk (4.68 digs, 29 aces) earned all-league honors. SMSU has 174 aces compared to just 84 serve receive errors while holding its foes to a .174 efficiency. Finally, they swept Pitt State early in the season.

Going 7-4 down the stretch, UNK has four players between 2.83-2.99 kills per set in outsides Emersen Cyza (Alliance), Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) and Asha Regier (Newton, Kan.) and right-side Jaden Ferguson (Lincoln SW). This foursome has combined for 65% of UNK's kill total with each hitting at least .220.

Running the show is two-time first-team All-MIAA setter Peyton Neff (North Platte). She is at 11.4 assists, 2.3 digs, 0.8 kills and 0.6 blocks per set and hitting a team-high .330. Neff also is one of four Lopers with 20 aces; UNK has a 158-104 ace advantage over its foes.

Defensively, fourth-year libero Lauren Taubenheim (Lincoln Pius) is at a team-high 3.99 dps and needs 19 more to be the 35th Loper to reach the 1k mark. Backrow mate Jensen Rowse (Minden) reached four figures earlier this year and now ranks 30th on the all-time list (1,047). Finally, UNK is 33-26 all-time in the NCAA's and has gone 3-5 in matches held at Concordia-St. Paul.