Volleyball 11/13/2017 2:07:00 PM

OCU faces Our Lady of the Lake in NAIA Championship Opening Round

Stars visit Our Lady of the Lake for 1 p.m. match Saturday

SAN ANTONIO – Oklahoma City University takes on Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the NAIA Volleyball Championship Opening Round at the Mabee Gymnasium.
The Stars (23-6) will make their third national-tournament appearance in program history, joining the 2010 and 2016 teams. Oklahoma City qualified for the NAIA Championship Opening Round by becoming the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season champion.
OCU swept the SAC regular-season and tournament crowns for the second consecutive year. The Stars toppled Texas Wesleyan 25-13, 25-21, 25-19 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena for the SAC Tournament title.
OCU's Sanja Vojnovic became the SAC Tournament most valuable player. Vojnovic, a senior from Bijeljina, Bosnia, accumulated 32 assists, four aces and two digs Saturday. Vojnovic averaged 11.00 assists, 0.89 aces and 0.44 blocks per set during the tournament.
Vojnovic collected the SAC MVP and setter of the year accolades. Among the NAIA, Vojnovic ranks fifth in aces (73) and aces per set (0.75) and 10th in assists per set (10.72). She adds 1.97 digs and 0.33 blocks per set.
Marijana Bjelobrk, a sophomore from Belgrade, Serbia, also became an all-tournament selection. Bjelobrk supplied the Stars with nine kills, two blocks and two digs in the championship match. In the tournament, Bjelobrk produced 3.67 kills and 0.56 blocks a set. Bjelobrk's season averages are 3.44 kills and 0.49 blocks per set.
Dani Chase of the Stars took SAC libero of the year. Chase, a senior from Yukon, Okla., picks up 6.04 digs per set to rank ninth nationally to go with 0.34 aces per set. OCU boasted of five all-conference performers, including Stefani Nell and Holly Randall.
OCU has won 18 of its last 19 matches with the only loss during that time coming to Our Lady of the Lake 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 on Oct. 21 at Abe Lemons Arena. Oklahoma City prevailed 25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21 over Friends (Kan.) on Nov. 20, 2010 in Wichita, Kan., in its previous foray into the NAIA Championship Opening Round.
Our Lady of the Lake (23-8) advanced to the NAIA Championship Opening Round after winning the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament. Raven Swain reeled in the RRAC Tournament MVP award and the RRAC player of the year acclaim for Our Lady of the Lake, which was also the conference regular-season champion.
The NAIA Championship Opening Round winners reach the NAIA Championships on Nov. 28-Dec. 2 in Sioux City, Iowa. The top 19 seeds and championship host Morningside (Iowa) automatically advance to the national championship final site. Action inside the Tyson Events Center starts with three days of pool play. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the elimination bracket on Dec. 1, and the national champion will be crowned Dec. 2 with first serve set for 7 p.m. CST on ESPN3.

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