NCAC Tournament Preview: Volleyball

Outlook: The College of Wooster volleyball team (17-8, 4-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) is the fifth seed for the single-elimination 2021 NCAC Tournament, hosted by Denison University, and will take on eighth-seeded Oberlin College (11-12, 2-6 NCAC) in the opening round at Livingston Gymnasium at 2 p.m. on Friday, November 5. The winner of the first-round match advances to play fourth-seeded Hiram College (14-14, 5-3 NCAC) at 6 p.m. on Friday. The winner of Friday's 6 p.m. match plays top-seeded Denison University (19-6, 8-0 NCAC) at noon on Saturday, November 6. The NCAC Tournament championship match is scheduled for 7 p.m. on November 6.

Ticket/Spectator Information: Tickets for adults are $7 per day, while youth and students are admitted for $3 per day. NCAC students with a valid student ID are admitted free of charge. Denison University requires all visitors to campus to be fully vaccinated and asks those who are unvaccinated to please not visit campus at this time. Denison University requires all guests and members of the Denison community to wear masks indoors at all times unless eating or drinking. All spectators for indoor sports need to be prepared to show proof of their vaccination status for entry. Kids under the age of 12 will be admitted without proof of vaccination provided they wear a mask at all times. Denison's most recent spectator policy announcement can be viewed HERE.

Media Coverage: Denison will provide live stats and a livestream for all of the matches. Additional information can be found on the NCAC Tournament webpage.

Tournament Format: Starting in 2017, the NCAC Tournament switched to a single-elimination format. The top two seeds (Denison and Wittenberg University) have a bye until Saturday's semifinal matches, with the two winners of those contests meeting for the tournament crown at 7 p.m. The third and fourth seeds (Ohio Wesleyan University and Hiram) have a bye for the first round of the tournament. Previously, quarterfinal losers met in consolation semifinals and then played in the appropriate fifth- or seventh-place matches. The NCAC's senior ceremony and the announcement of the all-conference team will take place at the conclusion of Friday's 4 p.m. match.

Last Meeting – Oberlin: Senior Seven Townsel (Oberlin, Ohio/Lorain) logged a career-high 14 kills against her hometown college, and Wooster evened up its NCAC record with a 25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19 win over Oberlin on October 13. Townsel, an Oberlin native, was nearly unstoppable in the opening set with seven kills on 10 swings. Three of those came during Wooster's 9-1 stretch. Wooster hit .291 to Oberlin's .172.

Last Meeting – Hiram: On October 23, Wooster rallied back from a two-set deficit only to see visiting Hiram win in five (25-18, 25-16, 20-25, 16-25, 15-8). Wooster could have clinched at least a fourth-place finish within the conference and took control of the tiebreaker for the fourth seed for the tournament with a win. Hiram's Kiara Franks had the momentum-sucking play in the fifth set, as the Terriers' leading outside hitter tapped down a Wooster serve receive overpass that made it 9-7. That kill was the second point of Hiram's match-ending 8-1 run. Hiram hit .245 to Wooster's .148.

Last Meeting – Denison: Denison continued to solidify its position as a strong contender within the NCAC, as the Big Red swept Wooster 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 on October 9. A 10-0 Denison run was the difference in the first set, and Wooster had just one stretch scoring four or more consecutive points in the match. Denison hit .294 to Wooster's .167.

Party Like It Is 1984: Wooster won 10 straight matches from September 3-18, marking the program's first 10-match winning streak since 1984. During the winning streak, Wooster beat Carnegie Mellon University, a team which made the last NCAA Div. III Championships field. Then, Wooster went 3-0 during the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and NCAC's Battle at the Point, where the Scots were one of three NCAC programs to go undefeated at the event. Wooster's three wins helped the NCAC to a 16-11 victory.

300 Times Two: Junior Hayley Nash (Peoria, Ariz./Xavier College Preparatory) logged her 300th kill this year during Wooster's 25-22, 25-12, 23-25, 25-15 win at Kenyon College on October 19. That milestone was significant for the program, as Nash now has a pair of 300-kills seasons. She joined All-American alumna KateLynn Riley as the lone Wooster volleyball players with two 300-kill seasons during the current scoring era. Nash finished her rookie season with 300 kills on the nose. She's since upped the 2021 total to 371, the fourth-most in single-season history during the current scoring era. Nash, who leads the NCAC in kills and kills per set, entered the week 25th in Div. III in total kills and 26th in kills per set (3.99).

A Case of Assists: Wooster's attack has been rolling all season long behind the standout play of senior setter Syd Case (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South). Case has ranked in the top-15 nationally in assists per set most of the season, and she was eighth through matches played October 31 at 10.65 per set. Case's efforts have Wooster ranked 23rd nationally with 13.16 kills per set and 54th nationally in hitting percentage (.214) through matches played October 31. Case needs 10 more assists to hit 1,000 for the year, and should she get there, she'll be the first Scot to hit the milestone since Autumn Berry's 1,155 in 2012.

TK: Senior Katie Billetdeaux (Lindenhurst, Ill./Lakes Community) is having a career year as the Scots' No. 1 middle. "TK" as she's called by her teammates, is second on the team with 3.16 kills per set. Should she get six more, Wooster will have two players with 300 kills in a season for the first time since 2012 (Paige Parker – 415, Erica Skillman – 342). Billetdeaux's .349 hitting percentage is the second-highest in the current scoring era, trailing Riley's .352 (443 kills, 77 errors, 1,041 attack attempts) from 2009. Billetdeaux leads the team in blocks at 67 and she's one of four Scots with at least 30 aces on the year.

Streak Stoppers: Wooster snapped Penn State Behrend's 14-match winning streak with a 25-18, 25-19, 25-20 win on October 23. Earlier in the year, Wooster beat DePauw University 25-17, 25-17, 26-24 for the Scots' first win over the Tigers since DePauw joined the NCAC in 2011.