Volleyball Advances to NCAA Tourney Regional Semifinals

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    By Melissa Soderberg

    The women”s volleyball team continues to impress as it advances to the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals and will be playing Middle Tennessee State today.

    “We”re very excited to be playing this far into the tournament,” BYU head coach Jason Watson said. “Middle Tennessee State presents a challenge for us, but we are ready to get to work.”

    This is the first time since 2000 that the women”s team has advanced to the semifinals. The Cougars are only one of 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Championship.

    BYU plays today at 3 MT at Penn State University. If they win, they will advance to the Regional Finals and be matched up against either Michigan or No. 1 Penn State and play on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

    The Cougars made the semifinals after sweeping Ole Miss (30-27, 30-21, 30-24) and a five-game upset against No. 6 Washington (30-28, 28-30, 25-30, 30-22, 15-13).

    Senior Chelsea Goodman recorded double-doubles in both matches and Rachel Dyer led BYU with her career-high of 22 kills against Washington. Ashton Hansen added her mark with .708 hitting.

    The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are 35-2 for the season. Ashley Adams, a junior rightside hitter, leads the team with 4.29 kills per game, as well as being strong in digs and blocks. Junior Ashley Asberry ranks eighth in the nation with hitting .412.

    Tonight”s match can be viewed live on the Internet by BYU Radio, All-Access and GameTracker. If the team advances to the Regional Finals to play Saturday, the match can be seen on ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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