OMAHA, Neb. – The WAC-Champion Utah Valley face off with Sun Belt Champion Texas State in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.  The Wolverines and Bobcats will face off in CHI Health Center on Wednesday, April 14, at 1:30 p.m. MT. This marks the first-ever trip to the Big Dance for UVU and the fourth time the Wolverines have appeared in a postseason tournament in school history.

Texas State is from San Marcos, Texas, and calls the Sun Belt Conference home. TSU is currently 30-8 on the season and went 13-1 in Sun Belt play. The Bobcats finished first in the Sun Belt standings this season as they played their conference season in the fall before having a nonconference season in the spring.

Texas State went 24-2 in the fall before going 6-6 in the spring. TSU is led by AVCA All-Region selections junior setter Emily DeWalt, junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald, and senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott. This marks the first matchup on the court between the Wolverines and Bobcats.

The Utah Valley Wolverines claimed the title of 202-21 WAC Tournament Champions as they opened the tournament with a win over second-seeded Grand Canyon in the semifinals, winning 3-1(19-25, 25- 23, 25-23, 27-25). On Saturday, they took down defending champion NM State in straight sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) in the championship match.

The Wolverines were led by WAC Tournament MVP Seren Jardine who finished the tournament averaging 7.43 digs per set. Junior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa also earned WAC All-Tournament team honors as she added 4.14 kills per set to propel UVU to its first ever WAC Tournament Championship.

The Wolverines have reached its highest RPI (rating power index) in school history, entering the NCAA Volleyball Tournament with an RPI of 42. UVU holds the highest RPI in the WAC, including the biggest jump from 2019 to 2020. The Wolverines hold the third highest RPI in the state of Utah, and are among the top 20 in the country in improvement from last season to this year.

Junior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa (1331.5) passed Madison Dennison (1306.5) for fifth in career points and now sits in third in total attacks with 3188. Senior setter Jaysa Funk Stratton (1270) became the seventh player in UVU history reach the 1000 assist plateau. Funk Stratton ranks fifth in career service attempts with 1078 serves and now ranks in the top 10 in career service aces, with 68 aces. Junior outside hitter Kristen Bell now ranks in the top 10 in career kills with 797 career kills. Senior libero Seren Jardine also now ranks tied for eighth in career services aces with 72 and is now the all-time leader in service attempts in school history with 1592.