WHEELING, W.Va. - Get it to the fifth set. That's when Millersville is at its best. Playing in its first NCAA Tournament match in 24 years, Millersville rallied from a 2-1 deficit to force a deciding fifth set against fourth-seeded and rival Shippensburg and then rode a wave of momentum to advance to the second round, 29-27, 22-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-9.

Millersville's (26-8) second-ever NCAA Tournament victory was filled with drama and tense moments as the two teams from the PSAC Southeast Division went to five sets for the second time this season. Shippensburg (26-7) finished the season 5-2 in five-set matches, and both of those losses came to Millersville. Millersville improved to 5-2 in five-setters as well and has won four in a row--all against NCAA Atlantic Regional teams.

Senior Haley Butler couldn't have picked a better night for a career performance. She totaled a career-high 18 kills (.236) including seven in the tide-turning fourth set and four more in the match-clinching fifth. Fellow senior Jayci Suseland added 16 kills (.235), Lindsey Blevins posted 14 and freshman Carley Baughman added 10. Delivering 54 of those helpers was senior setter Katie Laughman. Kat Forry, who was key in keeping rallies alive, totaled 45 digs.

Shippensburg totaled 76 kills to Millersville's 64 and edged the Marauders in hitting percentage (.239 to .204), but Millersville out-hit the Raiders in all three sets it won.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• After Millersville won two sets with 30 points in the Nov. 15 match with Shippensburg, it was unsurprising that the opening set 18 ties and eight lead changes. Millersville ripped 20 kills to just three errors while Shippensburg matched 20 kills with four errors. Shippensburg put the Marauders on the ropes at 24-23, but Millersville fought off four consecutive set point situations. Down 27-26, the Marauders called Suseland's number on three consecutive rallies, and she terminated on all three for a 29-27 win.
• Millersville, however, totaled just 17 kills in the second and third sets combined. That put the Marauders down 2-1 and on the verge of elimination. Ship scored the first point of the fourth, but Butler--with three kills--helped the Marauders to a 6-0 run. Millersville led by five as late as 20-15, but Shippensburg used a late 4-1 run to tie the set at 23. Suseland again provided the answer with a kill, and Chyna Gubbings evened the match with an ace.
• A kill and an ace from Blevins, a kill from Butler and a a kill from Suseland staked the Marauders to a 4-0 lead in the fifth. The Marauders then widened the advantage to 12-4 with a 5-0 run that included three kills and an ace from Rebecca Dalstad. The clinching point came on a Shippensburg attack error.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville's 118 digs were a season high and Forry's 45 were the most by a Marauder in more than a decade. Blevins completed a double-double with 22 digs to go with her 14 kills. Laughman also picked up a double-double with 14 digs.
• Millersville's 11 aces were the second-most of the season. Dalstad led the team with three.

POST-MATCH REACTION (Full Press Conference Video)
• Coach Brian Smith's houghts on the match: "We are excited about this. Shippensburg and us had a five-set match at the end of the regular season and they are a very quality team. We have a lot of respect for them. It's been a lot of years, so to show up, play a four-seed and win in five is exciting for the team and the program."
• Laughman on the long rallies: "I just trust my hitters, put it up for them and let them swing away. That was our goal today. We were hitting balls like it was our last one.
• Suseland on the team facing adversity: "We just really want it. Sometimes the ball falls not in our favor, but continuing to want to win the set and make sure that every single ball that you have the opportunity to touch, make it better. That really helped us."
• Coach Smith on the importance of the win: "It's great. It has almost been a magical season...I've gotten five text messages already from potential recruits and players committed to coming here next year. These girls have left a legacy that we will benefit from for the next decade.
• Coach Smith on the turning point in the fourth set: "It was really about hitting percentages. We started the match passing very well. The passing was good for us. We hit well in set one and won it. In sets two and three we hit under .100. We had to find a way to terminate because everything else was working well. The players were working really hard defensively. I think we had a sense of our backs against the wall, so 'let's go for this, be aggressive and find ways to score.' The confidence of having played Ship recently, winning the fourth and pushing it to five and winning, that was our goal. 'Let's get it to five and anything can happen.'"

NOTES
• Millersville's only other NCAA Tournament win came in the first round of the 1995 regional.
• It is the first time since 2005 that Millersville has defeated Shippensburg twice in the same season.

UP NEXT
• Millersville now takes on No. 1-seeded Wheeling Jesuit (32-3) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.