LINCOLN, Neb. --- The Delaware State women's volleyball team will face the Huskers of Nebraska in the Devaney Center in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.
 
Delaware State earned its first-ever bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship after clinching the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship title to receive the league's automatic bid.
 
The Hornets are riding a nine-match win streak entering tonight and will look to junior opposite hitter Alondra Maldonado to keep that momentum going. Maldonado leads Delaware State in kills (313) averaging 2.90 kills per set hitting an average of .349 during the 2022 season. With 80 total blocks on the season, she has totaled a team-best 355.5 points scoring 3.29 points per set.
 
Outside hitting duo Karen Cordero and Valeria Otero have been contributing in anyway they can throughout the course of the season. Cordero who has 249 kills this year, leads the team in total aces with 52 and sits third on the team in digs with 194.
 
Otero comes into tonight's match with 238 total kills but sits in second place in digs with 247. She has also recorded 27 total blocks and landed 25 service aces.
 
Setters Malgorzata Andersohn (669) and Alayna Lacy (401) have combined for 1,070 of the team's 1,265 total assists on the year Andersohn comes in with an assist per set average of 6.14 while Lacy has been handing out helpers at a clip of 3.93 assists per set average.
 
Delaware State has been dominant on defense all season long led by the middle blocking core of Sydney Lewis, Kelsie Dawson and Danielle Allen with senior libero Jasmal Cruz leading the team in digs.
 
Lewis, the program leader in career blocks (both total and per set average) has had a career-best 119 total blocks averaging 1.12 blocks per set during her senior season. Dawson is one block shy of the century mark this year (99) averaging .91 blocks per set while Allen has tallied 62 total blocks at a clip of .64 blocks per set.
 
Cruz who not only leads the team in digs this year (453, 4.31 digs per set) is also the program leader in total digs for a career as well as digs per set average over the course of a career.
 
Tonight's matchup features the top-two defensive teams in the country with Nebraska coming in as the Division I leader in team opposition hitting percentage (.129) and Delaware State right behind in second (.132).
 
First serve from the Devaney Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. central time / 8 p.m. eastern time. The winner of tonight's match will advance to face the winner of Miami vs. Kansas tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Devaney Center.

Tonight's game will air live on ESPN+ live coverage links to follow along are provided below. 

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