BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- After nearly half a day of traveling, the Cal State East Bay volleyball team arrived Tuesday night in the Pacific Northwest. The Pioneers will practice Wednesday afternoon in Western Washington's Carver Gym before making history on Thursday evening by competing in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time ever.

The Pioneers (16-12) earned an at-large berth to the eight-team West Regional field after capturing the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division crown during the regular season, then reaching the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament last weekend. 

East Bay drew a first-round matchup with Western Washington, the top seed and Regional host, which will close out Thursday's slate at 7:30 p.m. The Vikings are ranked No. 2 in the nation according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and went undefeated in conference matches to claim the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) title. The winner of that contest will advance to take on either Cal Poly Pomona or Pacific West Conference champion Asuza Pacific in the Regional semifinals on Friday.

LOADED FIELD
CSUEB's reward for earning the program's first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament selection is an extremely daunting field of opponents. All eight squads -- including the Pioneers and their veteran-laden team -- are good enough to capture the Regional title. While WWU is the top seed and the No. 2 team in the nation, the No. 2 seed at the Regional is actually the No. 1 team in the national coaches poll -- three-time defending CCAA champion Cal State San Bernardino. There are two more CCAA teams in the field in Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona, both of which are ranked in the top-20 in the country. No. 6 seed Central Washington (22-5), which defeated CSUEB when the teams met back in August, and No. 7 Chaminade (23-5) round out the field.

CHASING HISTORY
Names from the 2018 roster now appear all over the Pioneer record books. Three-time All-CCAA honoree Deja Thompson is the all-time record holder for career blocks and recently became the fourth Pioneer ever to reach 1,000 kills. Two-time All-CCAA honoree Katie Ireland is the program's all-time assist leader and is also the only setter ever to record 1,000 career digs. Kathy McKiernan ranks among the program leaders in blocks, kills, and hitting percentage. She earned her first career All-CCAA award as a senior, while also making the CCAA All-Tournament Team and capturing the CCAA Championship Scholar award as the player with the highest GPA at the conference tournament. Senior Lindsey Ray -- though she hasn't had the time to rack up the same career totals with just two seasons in Hayward -- recently became just the third Pioneer ever to make First Team All-CCAA.

But one record remains that has yet to be toppled this year, and with the Pioneers advancing to the NCAA postseason, it may yet be in jeopardy. Three-time All-CCAA honoree Kiki Leuteneker recorded her 1,200th career kill at the CCAA Tournament, and her current total of 1,212 ranks No. 2 in program history. The Hawaii native needs 21 more kills at West Regionals to match Jackie Randolph's school record.

BATTLE-TESTED
East Bay has twice as many losses as any other team at Regionals, due partly to the strength of the CCAA this year, as well as the fact that the Pioneers challenged themselves with an extremely difficult non-conference schedule. They opened the slate at the Colorado Mines Oredigger Classic, which pitted them against four teams that finished the year regionally ranked, including two that were nationally ranked. The following week, they battled a tough set of opponents at the West Region Crossover Showcase, including Central Washington and Alaska Anchorage, who the Pioneers beat and ultimately edged out for the final spot in the West Regional field. In short, they spent the month of August cutting their teeth on neutral courts against some of the nation's top competition, and that's exactly what they'll see this week.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Western Washington enters the Regional on a 25-match winning streak after opening the season with three straight losses to nationally-ranked teams. They're hitting .257 collectively, while averaging an impressive 2.82 blocks per set on defense. The Vikings are led by GNAC Player of the Year Abby Phelps, who hit .236 this year with averages of 3.91 kills and 4.38 digs per set. WWU also has two formidable players in the middle in Kayleigh Harper (3.24 kills/set, 1.43 blocks/set, .397 pct) and Michaela Hall (2.74 kills/set, 1.14 blocks/set, .364 pct), as well as an outstanding setter in Brette Boesel (11.85 assists/set).