SAN ANGELO, Texas – Midwestern State makes its first appearance in the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Championship since 2020 and faces St. Edward's in the quarterfinals at Junell Center on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

The Mustangs finished the regular season with a 16-12 record overall and earned the No. 5 seed in the postseason tournament with an 11-6 record in conference play.

Midwestern State has seen the Hilltoppers twice this season. The first encounter was at the Mountain Lion Classic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sept. 4. St. Edwards won 3-2 (20-25, 27-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-8). Isabella Dickens hit .417 in the match and finished with 18 kills, leading the Stangs with 19.5 points. Remi Madison had 16.5 points with 16 kills and also led the team with 15 digs. Macy Scheer had 34 assists. 

The sides clashed again in a conference match at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, and the Hilltoppers won 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17). St. Edward's hit .327 in the victory and held the Mustangs to a .157 hitting percentage. Dickens had 10.5 points for the Mustangs with 10 kills and hit .364. Jaiden Wright was in on four of the five blocks for MSU.

Mia Clay had 22 points for St. Edward's in the first meeting, finishing with 21 kills and a .255 hitting percentage. Kelli Fording had 14 kills and hit .294 in the five-set victory. Giselle Ojeda had 21 for the Hilltoppers in Colorado Springs.

Clay and Kaylen Lembcke each had 14.5 points for St. Edward's in the three-set victory at MSU. Fording finished with 12 kills and hit .152, finishing 13 points. Ojeda had 16 digs in the conference match.

Midwestern State is 9-14 in its all-time series with St. Edward's and won the two previous meetings prior to this season. 

Midwestern State is third in the Lone Star Conference in assists and fourth in kills per set. The Mustangs are averaging 12.6 assists and 13.3 kills per set. Scheer is second in the league with 9.6 assists per set. Dickens leads the Mustangs and is ninth in the conference with 3.1 kills per set.

The Mustangs are sixth in the LSC with a hitting percentage of .214, led by Wright and Dickens. Wright is hitting .337, which is fifth in the LSC, and Dickens is sixth in the league with a hitting percentage of .320.
The Stangs are sixth in the conference with 16 digs per set. Redding is sixth in the league with 4.15 digs per set. The Mustangs are 17th in the conference with 1.4 blocks per set, and Wright leads the team with 64 total blocks and 0.64 blocks per set. Opponents are hitting .231 against MSU.

Scheer leads the Mustangs with 34 service aces, and MSU is averaging 1.4 aces per set, which is 14th in the league.
   
In her 24th season as a head coach, Stephanie Radecki has a record of 435-322 (.575). Radecki is in her fifth season at the helm of the Mustangs' program.

St. Edward's (17-10, 12-5) had a seven-match winning streak snapped with a five-set loss a Western New Mexico in the regular season finale. 

The Hilltoppers are hitting .210 this season and are third in the conference with 13.45 kills per set. Fording and Clay are both averaging more than nine attacks per set. Fording is fourth in the conference with 3.7 kills per set and Clay is 10th in the league with 3.1 kills per set. 

Althea Morris was the LSC Setter of the Year and leads the league with 10.9 assists per set. Morris had 87 of her 980 assists this season in the two matches against MSU.

Ojeda is fourth in the LSC with 4.5 digs per set, and the Hilltoppers are 10th in the league with 15.1 digs per set as a team.

St. Edward's is 18th in the conference with 1.3 blocks per set and opponents are hitting .188, which is eighth in the league.

The Hilltoppers average 1.9 aces per set, which is fourth best in the LSC, and Ojeda leads the team with 30 aces. Carrington Jaimes has 29, and Fording has 28. Morris finished the regular season with 25 aces.

The winner will play Angelo State or the Western New Mexico/West Texas A&M winner in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Friday at Junell Center.