SEU Tournament Game Notes | HC Tournament Central Page

AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's volleyball team heads to Fort Smith, Ark. Friday to compete in the Heartland Conference Volleyball Tournament. The No. 4-seeded Hilltoppers will face the defending champions and hosts, UAFS Friday at 5 p.m.

The tournament, played at UAFS' Stubblefield Center, features the top four regular-season finishers in the league standings. No. 2 St. Mary's and No. 3 Lubbock Christian are on the opposite side of the bracket and will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a semifinals math. The tournament champion will be declared Saturday as the Friday winners square off at 1 p.m. to determine the Heartland Conference champion and automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament next week.

"This team has earned this opportunity to represent SEU in another conference tournament. They are prepared and ready," said Hilltoppers head coach Mary DeJute. "The main points this week have been: Stay focused. Battle every point. Play for each other. Be aggressive. Take advantage of every opportunity you are given. No Regrets."

SEU's challenger, UAFS, has won five of the last six tournament championships, including three straight. The Lions finished the 2017 regular season 25-6 overall and 11-1 in league play.

The Hilltoppers, since the inception of the conference tournament in 2000, have missed the postseason just two times (2005, 2015) and enter with a 16-10 overall record, after finishing 6-6 in league play.

UAFS swept the regular season series in a home-and-home schedule, and the Hilltoppers will need to beat the Lions on their home floor for the first time in school history to advance to the championship Saturday.

Several Hilltoppers competed in last year's tournament in a four-set loss to LCU, but senior Katie Martin is the most experienced SEU postseason player with three matches under her belt and 36 career postseason kills.

SEU Heartland Conference Tournament History & Notes:
Hilltoppers' Titles: 2001, 2003, 2004
All-Time SEU Record in HC Tournament: 22-16

• St. Edward's is making its 16th appearance in the 18th annual Heartland Conference Postseason Volleyball Tournament Friday. The Hilltoppers have only missed the conference's postseason tournament twice in 2005 and 2015.
• SEU carries an all-time Heartland Conference Tournament Record of 22-16.
• The Hilltoppers are 3-time Champions of the Heartland Conference Tournament in 2001, 2003 & 2004.
• Against the current tournament field (UAFS, St. Mary's & Lubbock Christian) SEU is 1-4 vs. these teams in tournament contests (0-3 vs. UAFS; 1-0 vs. St. Mary's; 0-1 vs. Lubbock Christian).
• St. Edward's last tournament win came Nov. 15, 2014 vs. Newman in four sets at Fort Smith, Ark.
• Katie Martin is the only Hilltopper with multiple postseason matches under her belt. She's played in three matches; two in 2014, including the Hilltoppers' last win as a program in the tournament vs. Newman, and last season's loss to LCU. Martin has 36 career kills in the tournament. Madison McClurg was also a member of the SEU team in 2014 that went 1-1 in the tournament, however, she missed the later part of the season and postseason due to injury.
• Martin, McClurg, Kate Hendrix, Morgan Beckham, Mikayla Parker, Alexa McAndrew and Julia Hartley all made appearances in last year's four set loss in the semi-finals to Lubbock Christian. The top contributors were Martin's 14 kills, Beckham's 28 digs, McClurg's 21 digs, Hartley's 18 assists, and Hendrix had an all-around match with six kills, 13 assists, 2 service aces and four total blocks.

MATCH STORY LINES
• SEU and UAFS met twice this season with the Lions taking both matches with a four-set win in Austin, Sept. 30 and a sweep at home Oct. 26. Katie Martin combined for 23 kills offensively in the losses for SEU, Morgan Beckham had 46 digs, Julia Hartley had 35 assists and Mikayla Parker & Kate Hendrix each had six blocks apiece.
• The Lions' Anna Demmer had 32 kills on a .255 hitting mark while Debra Rogers hit .378 with 22 kills in UAFS's two wins over SEU.
• The match will feature two of the top liberos in the nation with SEU's Morgan Beckham and UAFS' Autumn Reese who rank 11th and 2nd, respectively in digs per set nationally.
• SEU will look for its first ever win in Fort Smith, Ark. vs. the Lions and UAFS holds a nine-match winning streak over SEU and leads the overall series, 16-4.