WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After winning the MAC Volleyball Tournament Championship for the second consecutive season, the Western Michigan volleyball team begins its run at the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship on Thursday evening at No. 4 Purdue. 

WMU (20-12) at No. 4 Purdue (25-6)
Thursday, Dec. 5 | 6:30 pm | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUVolleyball

DANCING AGAIN
After winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship for the second straight season, Western Michigan is in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. It is the 14th all-time appearance in the Big Dance for the Broncos, the most ever by a MAC program.

LAST TIME OUT
WMU punched its ticket to its second consecutive NCAA Tournament with a sweep of No. 3 seed Ball State in the MAC Tournament Championship match. Logan Case handed out 43 assists and picked up 13 digs to help the Broncos hit .394 in the victory. Case averaged 12.75 assists/set for the weekend to earn Tournament MVP for the second consecutve year. Case was joined on the All-Tournament Team by fifth-year libero Andelyn Simkins and senior middle blocker Madison Merz.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Broncos are making their second consecutive and MAC-record 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This marks the first time Western Michigan has made back-to-back appearances in the Big Dance since it made eight in a row from 1982-89. WMU's most recent tournament win came last season, when it upended No. 7 Auburn for its first NCAA Tournament victory since making the Sweet Sixteen in 2008. In 21 total tournament matches, the Brown and Gold own an 8-13 record and have made a league-record five regional semifinals. Western Michigan is 1-1 all-time in West Lafayette in the NCAA Tournament, including a five-set win over No. 10 Purdue in the 1983 Regional Semifinals. The Broncos fell in the Regional Final the next day to national runner-up UCLA.

SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
No. 4 seed Purdue is making its 10th consecutive and 36th overall NCAA Tournament appearance. The Boilermakers went 16-4 in the Big Ten to finish fourth in the league standings. They are led by AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist Eva Hudson, who is atop the Big Ten and ranks 10th nationally with 4.73 kills/set. Purdue owns a 15-9 advantage in the all-time series against the Broncos, with the most recent meeting coming back in 2014. 

WMU VS THE BIG TEN
Purdue is the second Big Ten Conference opponent for Western Michigan in 2024, with the Broncos having swept Michigan State in East Lansing back on Sept. 11. WMU has knocked off three straight Big Ten foes, with a road win at Michigan in 2023 and a five-set victory over Indiana in 2021. The Brown and Gold are 1-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament against members of the Big Ten.

MAKING HISTORY
With her 43 assists in the MAC Tournament Championship match, Logan Case became the Mid-American Conference's all-time leader in career assists, surpassing the old record of 6,408, set by former Ball State setter Emily Sallee from 1997-2000. The NCAA's active leader in career assists with 6,434, Case enters the NCAA Tournament seventh in NCAA Division I history for career assists. The all-time NCAA DI record is held by former UAB setter Tammy Robertson, who handed out 6,650 assists from 1989-92. 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
For the second consecutive season, WMU's Andelyn Simkins was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. The fifth-year libero was second in the MAC in league play with 4.52 digs/set, and helped the Broncos post a league-leading 15.82 digs/set. Overall, Simkins is second in the conference and 38th in NCAA DI with 4.80 digs/set, and her defensive exploits have Western Michigan atop the league and 36th nationally with 16.58 digs/set.

ALL-MAC PERFORMERS
In addition to winning her second straight MAC Defensive Player of the Year award, Andelyn Simkins was also an All-MAC First Team selection for the second straight year. Joining Simkins on the First Team was Logan Case, who earned All-MAC First Team honors for the fifth consecutive season. Rounding out WMU's honorees was Madison Merz, who picked up an All-MAC Second Team selection.

MUNSON'S MILESTONE
Head coach Colleen Munson collected her 400th win at the helm of the program in the MAC Championship match against Ball State. Already the winningest coach in volleyball program history, Munson getting to the 400-mark made her just the sixth head coach in the history of WMU Athletics to collect 400 wins at the helm of the Broncos. 

SETTING THE TABLE
Logan Case has had another outstanding season, ranking second in the nation in both total assists (1,337) and assists/set (11.73). Through Case's distribution, the Western Michigan attack led the conference and ranks 15th in NCAA DI in assists/set (13.11) and 31st nationally in kills/set (13.74).

BALANCED BRONCOS
Behind Logan Case's distribution, Western Michigan has featured a balanced offense this season which has five players averaging between 2.26 and 3.18 kills/set. Keona Salesman's 3.18 kills/set leads the Broncos and ranked ninth in the conference this season, while WMU also had Julia Marr (3.05, 11th) among the league leaders.

MASHING MERZ
Madison Merz saved the best season of her career for last, as the senior has posted career-bests in kills/set (2.45), hitting percentage (.364), total blocks (66.0) and blocks/set (0.77) in 2024. Merz's .364 hitting percentage is the fourth-best mark in the conference, and enters the NCAA Tournament ranked 56th in NCAA Division I. 

MORE ON MUNSON
By getting to 20 wins for the second consecutive season in 2024, head coach Colleen Munson reached the 20-win mark for the 11th time in her tenure with the Broncos. The MAC Tournament title was Western Michigan's eighth overall and third under Munson. This season marks the fifth time Munson has taken the Brown and Gold to the Big Dance, with WMU grabbing the league's automatic bid in 2014, 2023 and 2024, and earning at-large berths in 2008 and 2014.