2025 MIAA Volleyball Championship
Quarterfinals
No. 8 seed Fort Hays State (16-12)
vs. No. 1 seed #3 Nebraska-Kearney (26-3)
Thursday, November 20 • 5 p.m.
Civic Arena • St. Joseph, Mo.
 
The Fort Hays State volleyball team will open postseason play Thursday evening (Nov. 20) when the Tigers take on third-ranked Nebraska-Kearney in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 MIAA Championship. First serve between the eighth-seeded Tigers and the top-seeded Lopers is set for 5 p.m. inside the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
 
The Tigers (16-12) finished the regular season eighth in the league standings with a record of 5-11, one win in front of ninth-ranked Missouri Southern and one behind No. 7 seed Pittsburg State. The Lopers (26-3) finished in a three-way tie for the regular season conference title at 13-3 but secured the No. 1 seed in the tournament via tiebreaker.
 
All-tournament tickets are available for $33, while daily tickets will cost $16 for adults, $11 for students and youth. Kids four and under will be admitted for free.
 
Live video coverage of the tournament will be available on The MIAA Network. Fans with active monthly or all-access subscriptions will already have access to watch the tournament. Other purchase options include a $15 per match fee or a $25 all-tournament pass that gains access to all seven matches of the event. Live stats will also be available online here.
 
FHSU's 16 wins are the most for the program since 2016 (25-9). The Tigers are hitting .194 as a team this season, their best attack percentage since that same 2016 season (.235).
 
Fort Hays State had a trio of All-MIAA selections this season, including second teamer Gracie Rains and a pair of honorable mention picks for Kirsten Evans and Ashlyn Reeves. Rains earned her third All-MIAA honor after leading the team with 2.78 kills per set, ranking 13th in the league. The Newton, Kan. native recently became the ninth Tiger to reach 1,000 career kills, now with 1,019 in her career.
 
Evans ranks ninth in the conference with a team-high 3.87 digs per set while ranking seventh in the MIAA with 34 service aces. Reeves paced the Tigers with 89 total blocks, ninth-most in the league, while ranking second on the team with 2.21 kills per set and an attack percentage of .249.
 
This is FHSU's sixth trip to the tournament since joining the MIAA in 2006. The Tigers are in search of their first postseason victory since 2004.
 
UNK had seven All-MIAA selections, including three first teamers and the conference setter of the year in Peyton Neff. The Lopers hit .274 as a team in the regular season, second-best in the conference and 10th-best in Division II. FHSU is looking for its first win over the Lopers since 2003, a span of 38 matches.
 
Should the Tigers advance, they would face off with the winner of Central Oklahoma and Emporia State at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 21), with the title game set for 6 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 22).