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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's volleyball team will compete in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship for the 33rd time in program history, opening with regional action Thursday. The Warhawks, ranked 11th in the latest national poll, will face Cornell College in a regional hosted by the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

First Round
UW-Whitewater (25-6), the No. 2 seed, will face Cornell College (22-7), the No. 7 seed, at 3 p.m at the Ericksen Center on UNW's campus. The host institution will provide live video and live stats of each match. 

Prior to the Warhawks' opening round match, UW-Eau Claire (21-9) will take the floor against Gustavus Adolphus (25-4) at 12:30. The third match of the day features UW-Stevens Point (25-7) and Coe College (27-5) at 5:30 with Northwestern (30-2) hosting North Park (23-8) in the final match Thursday at 8 p.m. 

The Path to Regionals
The Warhawks went unbeaten in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, 7-0, for the first time since 2007 to secure the program's 18th regular season league title. With the top seed in the WIAC Tournament, UWW received a bye through the quarterfinals before sweeping UW-Platteville to advance to the WIAC Tournament Championship for the ninth consecutive season. 

UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Stevens Point 3-1 to capture a league-leading 17th WIAC Tournament title to claim the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship. The Warhawks are making their 29th appearance in the last 30 seasons. 

The Warhawks have met five of the seven teams competing in the regional this season. UWW swept Coe 3-0 on September 16 before taking down UW-Stevens Point in a five-set thriller in Whitewater on the 21st. The Warhawks dropped a five-setter to fifth-ranked Northwestern on October 15. In the final weekend of the regular season, UW-Whitewater swept UW-Eau Claire 3-0 before falling to Cornell in five sets October 29. 

The Rams are making their ninth appearance in the national tournament in program history. Cornell went undefeated, 8-0, to win its 10th consecutive Midwest Conference title and claim the league's automatic berth. 

Cornell has played three of the teams in the regional in addition to UWW. The Rams split a pair of matches with Coe and lost in four sets to both UW-Eau Claire and Gustavus Adolphus. Cornell comes into the match with wins in nine of their last ten matches. 

Warhawk Scouting Report
At the net, UW-Whitewater ranks seventh nationally in total blocks with 250 on the season. Middle hitter Hannah Proctor (Durand, Ill./Durand) leads the way with 114, ranked 13th in Division III. Offensively, UWW is 15th in the country in team kills with 1,498. Five Warhawks boast more than 200 kills this season led by All-WIAC honoree Jenna Weinfurt's (Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) 333. Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), a three-time All-WIAC selection with 308 kills, became the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000 kill milestone earlier this season. Kirsten Anderson (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie), a middle hitter and All-WIAC selection, bolsters the Warhawks at the net offensively and defensively. She boasts the second-best attack percentage in the WIAC this season (.356) and ranks second on the team in blocks. 

KellyAnn Sotiros (New Berlin, Wis./West Allis Hale), an all-conference pick this season, is one of the best servers in the country. Ranked 20th nationally with 71 aces, Sotiros also captains the offense as a setter in the Warhawks' 6-2 set. Earlier this season, she became the 24th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs. 

Morgan Jensen (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) holds down the backcourt. The Warhawk libero garnered WIAC All-Defensive Team honors for the third time in her career this season. She averages 4.23 digs per set. 

Ram Scouting Report
Cornell College is ranked ninth in the nation in total blocks with 245.5 on the season. Middle blocker Rory Light is the best blocker in Division III averaging 1.49 per set. Her 134 this season is third-most in the nation. 

Four Rams boast 200 kills on the season including Light, Ilah Perez-Johnson, Grace Marti and Ella McLaughlin. 

Cornell setter Clare Green is 13th nationally in assists averaging 10.02 per set. 

What's Next
The winner of the Warhawk/Ram match Thursday will advance to face the winner of UWEC and Gustavus Adolphus in the regional semifinal Friday. The regional championship match is slated for Saturday at 5 p.m. The region champion advances to the final eight November 16-19 in Pittsburgh, Pa.