MADISON, Wis. – The Edgewood College Eagles women's volleyball squad earned the third seed in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) postseason. They will host the sixth-seeded Benedictine Eagles at the Edgedome.

THE BASICS
- No. 3 Edgewood College (19-9, 11-2 NACC) vs. No. 6 Benedictine (14-13, 8-5 NACC)
- Madison, Wis. (Todd Wehr Edgedome)
- Tuesday, November 1, 7:00 p.m.
- Live Links

EDGEWOOD COLLEGE ROSTER | EDGEWOOD COLLEGE SCHEDULE | EDGEWOOD COLLEGE STATS

BENEDICTINE ROSTER | BENEDICTINE SCHEDULE | BENEDICTINE STATS

2022 NACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT PAGE

HOW THEY GOT HERE
- Edgewood College clinched their bid into the postseason on the final Friday of conference play with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-16) victory over Rockford. The next day they clinched a home match in the tournament after taking down Concordia Chicago 3-0 (25-22, 25-21. 25-21). Sophomore Abigail Hoffmann proved essential for the last full week of the Edgewood College regular season, earning NACC Offensive Player of the Week honors after recording 67 assists, 47 kills, 37 digs, nine blocks, and four aces. She is one of four players in all of Division III with five or more triple-doubles, including a 16-kill, 23-assist, 12-dig performance in a five-set comeback against Dubuque. Abbey Falk also earned NACC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week of October 11, while Lea Bunch earned the honor twice for the week of October 4 and September 20, respectively.

- Edgewood College finished the regular season having won six straight and 13 of 15, their two losses in the stretch coming against Aurora and No. 12 UW-Oshkosh. Edgewood College finished 2-3 against ranked foes with victories over No. 23 Transylvania and No. 17 UW-Stevens Point, and their other losses including fourth-ranked Trinity (TX) and No. 10 UW-Whitewater. Edgewood College played four of the seven teams ranked in Region VIII.

- Hoffmann is second in the nation with five triple-doubles, while Falk is 13th in total blocks and 16th in blocks per set. Falk leads the NACC in both categories. As a team, Edgewood College leads the conference in blocks per set (1.75), attacks per set (32.79), and total blocks (168.0). They are 26th national in team assists (1,133) and only behind Lakeland in the NACC. Edgewood College also is 34th in team kills at Division III with 1,191.

- Benedictine clinched their playoff bid in the final night of the NACC regular season. In what amounted to a playoff match, they eliminated the Illinois Tech Scarlett Hawks in 25-21, 25-12, 25-21 fashion.

- Benedictine plays a tough defensive game, topping the NACC in digs per set (17.31) and ranked 59th nationally in the stat. Courtney Levy leads the squad and conference in digs per set with 4.94. Olivia McPherson is the core of the Benedictine offense, leading the team in attacks per set (10.69) and kills per set (3.35). Her attacks per set is fourth in the NACC and 49th nationally.

LAST MEETING
- Edgewood College defeated Benedictine earlier this year at the Todd Wehr Edgedome. Edgewood College won 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22) back on September 30. Hoffmann and Taylor Salmon posted double-doubles, Hoffmann with 15 kills and 11 assists while Salmon had 28 assists and 11 digs. Hoffmann also had six blocks. Falk finished with 13 kills and six blocks, while Lea Bunch had 28 digs. Olivia McPherson had an 18-kill, 13-dig double-double, while Kiara McPherson and Jamie Janczak had 22 assists each. Hannah Griffith was a force at the net for Benedictine with a match-high nine blocks, while Levy had 20 digs. The squads were nearly even in most major statistical categories, with the exceptions being hitting percentage and aces. Edgewood College had nine aces to Benedictine's three, and won the hitting battle .194 to .159.

- The winner of this matchup will move on to face second-seeded Aurora in the semifinals on Thursday. Aurora defeated both Eagles at their respective home courts by 3-0 margins. Sydney Avery is a force for the Spartans, leading the league and 14th in Division III nationally with 4.08 kills per set. Kaitlyn Beebe tops the conference in assists per set (9.54) and is third in service aces (49). Beebe's assists per set is good for 26th in the nation. Aurora is 24th in kills (1,220) and 28th in assists (1,112) in the nation.

NACC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
-  Aurora won the 2021 NACC Tournament, defeating No. 2 Concordia Wisconsin as the top seed in the finals. The Spartans have won every NACC Tournament since 2017 with the exception of the 2020 season.

- The other first round matchup features No. 4 St. Norbert hosting No. 5 Lakeland. The winner of that matchup will travel to face No. 1 Concordia Wisconsin on Thursday.

- The Eagles home matchup in round one is their first NACC Tournament match at the Edgedome since 2017. Edgewood College's last appearance in the tournament was in 2020. The Eagles have made the NACC Tournament 11 times since 2007, all under head coach Paul Schlomer, and one NCAA appearance back in 2011.