The Rockhurst Hawks received their eighth invitation to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championships. Fourth-seeded Rockhurst (26-4) will meet fifth-seeded Indianapolis (19-10) in a first-round match on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 2:30 p.m. EST in the Midwest Regional at Grand Valley State's Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale, Mich. The Midwest Regional winner will advance to the Division II national quarterfinals, Dec. 4-6, in Louisville, Ky.
 
The game will be live streamed by Grand Valley State at: http://gvsulakers.com/sports/2014/9/12/GEN_0912145019.aspx?id=97
 
The Hawks are returning to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2012. Rockhurst reached the regional finals five times between 1998 and 2005. The Hawks fell to top-seeded Grand Valley State in the 2005 NCAA Great Lakes Regional finals. Rockhurst also reached the regional finals in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2003.
 
Junior middle hitter Preecy Seever leads the team in points (414.5) and blocks (135). Seever was named the Daktronics Inc., Division II Midwest Region Player of the Year. Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Rietzke is the team leader in kills (352). Freshman libero Anne Hellwege has posted a team-high 495 digs. Junior setter Whitney Kostal tops the team with 1,289 assists.
 
Five Rockhurst players rank among the top 10 in the GLVC. Whitney Kostal leads the GLVC and ranks 11th in Division II in assists (11.61). Preecy Seever is the conference leader and ranks 16th in Division II in hitting percentage (.379). Seever also ranks second in the GLVC and seventh in Division II in blocks (1.26), in addition to ranking eighth in the GLVC in kills (3.12). Morgan Rietzke is seventh in the GLVC in kills (3.17). Alyssa Arnold ranks fifth in the GLVC in service aces (0.33). The Hawks lead the GLVC in blocks (2.43 per set) and hitting percentage (.263).
 
Rockhurst's Tracy Rietzke currently ranks first among NCAA Division II women's coaches in career victories (1,117) and eighth in all-time winning percentage (.818) among Division II coaches. He also ranks sixth in career victories for all three levels of NCAA women's coaches. He has guided the Hawks to a 945-194 record (.830) since 1988. Rietzke has also taken 14 teams into national tournament play while competing in the NAIA and NCAA.
 
Rockhurst has played Indianapolis 16 times since the two schools started playing each other in 2005. The Greyhounds own a 12-4 lead in the all-time series. The Hawks won the last meeting, 3-1, earlier this season at Rockhurst.