LCSC is seeded third for Region I volleyball tournament

11-12-07 

After winning the Frontier Conference regular season and conference tournament titles, the Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team will go for the hat trick when it takes part in the NAIA Region I Tournament on Thursday-Saturday at the Spokane ValleyHub. 

The Warriors are the No. 3 seed in the tournament based on the final Region I rankings, which came out Monday. As expected College of Idaho and Southern Oregon were 1-2 in the poll as they have been for most of the season. LCSC was third, followed by Westminster, Montana Tech, Great Falls, Oregon Institute of Technology, and Rocky Mountain College. 

The Region I tournament divides teams into two pools. Each team will play the remaining three teams in its pool and the top two finishers from each pool advance to the semifinals.  The eventual champion earns a berth into the 28th annual NAIA Volleyball Championships on Nov. 28-Dec. 1 at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. 

LCSC will join Southern Oregon, Great Falls and OIT in its pool.  LCSC played Southern Oregon during the opening weekend of the season in a tournament at Portland and lost 30-28, 16-30, 30-19, 30-24. LCSC has played Great Falls three times this season and is 2-1 against the Argos, sweeping them twice and also losing a five-game thriller on the road. One of the sweeps came last weekend in the semifinals of the conference tournament in Billings. LCSC and OIT haven’t played this season. 

“We are very happy with our performance this past weekend,” LCSC coach Jennifer Greeny said. “It will be great to play in Spokane, somewhat close to home for the Regional Tournament.  It will again be a tough weekend, but we are ready for the challenge.” 

The Warriors meet Great Falls to begin play at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, and then face Southern Oregon at 6 p.m., also on Thursday. OIT and LCSC meet Friday at 9 a.m.

If any three-way ties exist, there will be playoff games at 2 p.m. to break the ties and decide the top two teams from each pool. The semifinals are set for 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, with the third-place match (if needed) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. The championship match is at 2 p.m.  

LCSC hasn’t won a Region I title or played at the national tournament since 1999, which also marks the only other time it has won both the conference regular season and tournament titles. LCSC has played in seven national tournaments – 1988, 1989, 1994, and 1996-99. 

Tickets for the Region I Tournament can be purchased the door. An all-tournament pass is $15 for adults and $12 for Seniors and students. Day passes are $7 for adults and $5 for Seniors and students. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free. 

The following are the pool seeds and the schedule for the Region I Tournament. 

Pool A – #1 College of Idaho 22-7. #4 Westminster 21-8. #5 Montana Tech 19-10. #8 Rocky Mountain 14-15.

Pool B – #2 Southern Oregon 25-4. #3 Lewis-Clark State 21-5. 6, Great Falls 15-13. 7, Oregon Institute of Technology 23-10. 

Schedule

Thursday’s pairings
10 a.m. – College of Idaho vs. Rocky Mountain (Court 1); Westminster vs. Montana Tech (Court 2)
12:30 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. Oregon Tech (C1); LCSC vs. Great Falls (C2)
3:30 p.m. – College of Idaho vs. Westminster (C1); Rocky Mountain vs. Montana Tech (C2)
6 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. LCSC (C1); Great Falls vs. Oregon Tech (C2)

Friday’s pairings
9 a.m. – Westminster vs. Rocky Mountain (C1); LCSC vs. Oregon Tech (C2)
11:30 a.m. – College of Idaho vs. Montana Tech (C1); Southern Oregon vs. Great Falls (C2)
2 p.m. – pool playoffs if needed.
5:30 p.m. – Semifinal 1: Pool B #1 finisher vs. Pool A #2 finisher.
8 p.m. – Semifinal 2: Pool A #1 finisher vs. Pool B #2 finisher.

Saturday’s pairings
11:30 a.m. – Third place game (if needed)
2 p.m. – championship match.