2018 NAIA Volleyball Championship Opening Round

Volleyball 11/12/2018 5:28:00 PM

OCU hosts NAIA Championship Opening Round

Stars face Wiley at 6 p.m. Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University squares off with Wiley (Texas) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena in the NAIA Volleyball Championship Opening Round.
Oklahoma City reached the NAIA Championships for the fourth time ever and third consecutive year and hosts an Opening Round match for the first time. The Stars (30-3) made the national-tournament field after winning the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season champion for the third year in a row.
The Stars nabbed both the SAC regular-season and tournament titles for the third consecutive year while posting their fourth 30-win season. OCU secured the SAC Tournament crown by edging Texas Wesleyan 17-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 18-16 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.
Marijana Bjelobrk, a junior from Belgrade, Serbia, propelled OCU with 3.50 kills a set during the tournament. She became the SAC Tournament most valuable player, collecting her second SAC Tournament all-tournament nod.
Lauren Hermes, a junior from The Colony, Texas, took all-tournament acclaim in the SAC Tournament. During the tournament, she averaged 6.50 digs a set with two 30-dig performances. Hermes posted the first back-to-back 30-dig performances in OCU history.
Oklahoma City enters the NAIA Championship Opening Round with a winning streak of nine matches. The Stars have won 19 in a row at home dating back to a three-set loss to Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) on Oct. 21, 2017. Our Lady of the Lake knocked off OCU 27-25, 25-22, 25-22 in the Opening Round on Nov. 18, 2017 in San Antonio.
Wiley (20-3) qualified for the NAIA Championship Opening Round as the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament champion. Larrisa Francisco won the tournament MVP award after becoming the conference newcomer of the year. Wiley captured its first RRAC Tournament title since 2008.
The victors in the Opening Round reach the NAIA Championships on Nov. 27-Dec. 1 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 from Nov. 27-29. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the elimination bracket Nov. 30, and the national champion will be crowned Dec. 1 with first serve set for 7 p.m. CST on ESPN3.