HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Houghton College volleyball established a first for Highlander team sports last week, earning a spot in the Empire 8 Conference postseason tournament, which is being hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday and Saturday.

Houghton (16-12 overall; 5-3 Empire 8) is the tournament's fourth seed and will take on top seed Stevens Tech (29-6, 8-0 Empire 8) on Friday at 3 p.m.

Friday's other semifinal features #2 Nazareth (25-9, 7-1 Empire 8) vs. #3 Ithaca (23-10, 6-2 Empire 8).

Houghton's three conference losses came at the hands of the tournament's top three seeds. But the Highlanders take pride in that fact that they took all three matches to five games. Head Coach Nancy Cole says those results gives the team confidence heading into the tournament.

"We are really excited that we qualified. It was one of the goals we set for our team during preseason and the girls worked really hard to achieve it," said Cole. "We fought hard against the three teams above us and took them all to five sets. We actually had match point first with both Stevens and Ithaca. I think all four teams going in could come out on top. It is going to depend on how the teams play.

"We would love to win the championship. That, of course, is our goal. However, win or lose, I want our team to go in ready to leave everything on the floor... focused on playing all out the whole way through and working at it together. We play best when we enjoy the game and we play as one team. That is what I want to see this weekend."

Follow the action on the tournament website.

Friday's match will feature Live Stats and a live video Webcast.

Houghton is in its third season of membership in the Empire 8 and was granted the opportunity to compete for conference championships for the first time this season in team sports. As a third-year provisional member in NCAA Division III the Highlanders are still unable to move on to NCAA Division III National Championship play. If they win the Empire 8 title, the second place team will earn the conference's automatic qualifier to nationals.