But the Raiders experienced adversity in losing star hitter Mya Ayro for four matches in a key stretch (they went 1-3), and Northern Kentucky captured its first title since joining the league in 2015.
The way coach Travers Green sees it, though, weathering those tough times will only make his team harder to beat.
“It’s always good to be challenged and tested. … I think that makes us feel a lot stronger as a group,” he said.
“Other players got opportunities and some experience, and you just never know when you might need to rely on that.”
The Raiders (19-10, 13-5) locked up the No. 2 seed by sweeping Oakland in the final weekend and will have a bye into the semis Saturday along with NKU (21-8, 17-1).
Third-seeded Youngstown State will play No. 6 Green Bay, and fourth-seeded IU Indy will face No. 5 Milwaukee in quarterfinal matches.
Though the winners will want to avoid the Norse on their home court, taking on the Raiders at full strength doesn’t seem all that appealing, either.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to be really looking forward to playing us,” Green said.
The Raiders went 14 years without a winning record from 2004-17, going a combined 134-293 overall.
They had five last-place finishes in the league and 35 straight HL losses from 2011-14.
After going 15-14 in 2018 under new coach Allie Matters, they’ve been on a rampage with four NCAA tourney trips. In 2019, they earned the only at-large berth in Wright State athletic history.
Ayro is second in the league in kills per set at 3.96, and Lauren Yacobucci, the reigning HL setter of the year, is second in assists at 10.52.
Those two have won a pair of league player of the week awards this year.
“It’s going to be a new journey for us. We have high expectations of ourselves, and to be able to play in the NCAA tournament is always a goal of ours,” Green said.
WOMEN’S HOOPS: The Raiders fell to Bellarmine 83-76 in overtime on Wednesday afternoon at the Nutter Center, snapping a three-game winning streak.
Wright State welcomed students from over 30 schools as part its annual Education Day event, which brought the second-largest crowd in program history at 6,192 fans.
Breezie Williams led the Raiders with 18 points, Tri-Village grad Rylee Sagester had 16 points and Valley View grad Claire Henson added 13.
Wright State outscored the Knights 18-13 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but never held the lead in OT to fall to 3-2 overall.
On Sunday, the Raiders beat Evansville, 69-60. Sagester had 19 points and Lauren Scott added 17 in the win.
In their home opener against Wilberforce last week, they set a program record for points in a 122-47 win.
It was their first time reaching 100 since beating Northwestern (Ohio) on Nov. 10, 2017.
Williams followed a 27-point effort at Tennessee State with 20 in just 14 minutes. The Raiders tied the program record with 18 three-pointers.
SOCCER: Caitlin Burger earned first-team all-league honors, helping the Raiders reach the six-team league tourney for the first time in three years and finish 7-7-5 overall.
The senior midfielder from Cincinnati tied for the team lead in points (11) and goals (4).
Senior forward Samara Nunn was a second-team pick, and junior defender Kaitlyn Eyink made the third team.
For the Raider men, who finished 2-13-1, junior midfielder Henry Hutchinson and senior defender Roman Kedgley were third-team picks.
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