The Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team came up short in its attempt to receive an opening-round bye and will open the 36-team NAIA National Championships at home against Shawnee State of Ohio, it was announced Sunday.
The NAIA released its final poll on Sunday and the Warriors remained at No. 14, the same position it held last week. Only the top 12-ranked teams in the NAIA poll, which included the host team Morningside College, received first-round byes and advance to Sioux City, Iowa for pool play. The remaining 24 qualifiers meet in 12 first-round games at host sites on Saturday. The 12 winners also advance to Sioux City for pool play on Dec. 2-6.
LCSC enters the national tournament with a 28-2 record and is the only team from the Frontier Conference to receive a berth. The Warriors won the conference tournament over the weekend at home, including a wild three-set sweep of Rocky Mountain in the title match. Rocky, which finished 19-8, did not receive a vote in the final Top 25 poll.
“We’re excited and honored to be a part of the national tournament,” LCSC assistant coach Burdette Greeny said. “We’re really excited to have another opportunity to play at home in front of our great fans.”
The match time for the Shawnee State-LCSC contest will be determined on Monday. The LCSC women’s basketball team is playing host to the Staples Classic with games at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, so the a couple of the options being considered are moving the basketball games to earlier in the afternoon and playing the volleyball match at night, or possible playing the volleyball match that afternoon and move the start times of the basketball games to later.
Shawnee State is 38-2 on the season but only received five points in the NAIA Top 25 poll, which left it unranked. The team won its first American Mideast Conference Tournament championship in school history when they defeated Ohio Dominican on Saturday. This also will be Shawnee State’s first appearance in the NAIA tournament.
More information, including ticket prices, will be released by the LCSC athletic department on Monday.
Below is a list of the first-round games and the final NAIA poll.
First-round games
St. Thomas (Texas) at Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)
Shawnee State (Ohio) at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
Asbury (Ky.) at Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
Indiana Wesleyan at Dordt (Iowa)
Union (Tenn.) at Vanguard (Calif.)
Indiana Tech at King (Tenn.)
Menlo (Calif.) at College of Idaho
Webber International (Fla.) at Mobile (Ala.)
Bethel (Kan.) at Doane (Neb.)
Lee (Tenn.) at Walsh (Ohio)
Wiley (Texas) at Lubbock Christian (Texas)
William Penn (Iowa) at Black Hills State (S.D.)
2008 Final Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Nov. 16
RANK
LAST WEEK
SCHOOL
1ST PLACE VOTES
WON
LOST
TOTAL POINTS
1
1
Fresno Pacific University (Calif.)
25
29
0
715
2
2
Biola University (Calif.)
27
3
692
3
3
Concordia University (Calif.)
26
5
666
4
4
Bellevue University (Neb.)
30
4
647
5
5
Columbia College (Mo.)
39
3
625
6
6
Georgetown College (Ky.)
33
6
601
7
7
California Baptist University
24
8
578
8
8
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
22
10
553
9
10
Lindenwood University (Mo.)
34
7
523
10
9
Northwestern College (Iowa)
27
7
499
11
11
Madonna University (Mich.)
35
4
489
12
12
Morningside College (Iowa)
36
4
467
13
13
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)
18
9
436
14
14
Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)
28
2
410
15
16
Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.)
36
9
390
16
15
Dordt College (Iowa)
31
7
380
17
17
Vanguard University (Calif.)
15
10
346
18
19
Indiana Institute of Technology
31
3
323
19
21
College of Idaho (Idaho)
23
7
306
20
23
University of Mobile (Ala.)
32
3
254
21
24
Walsh University (Ohio)
28
10
242
22
22
Doane College (Neb.)
26
8
224
23
RV
Indiana Wesleyan University
27
14
197
24
25
Lubbock Christian University (Texas)
32
4
173
25
18
Taylor University (Ind.)
32
8
158
Others Receiving Votes: Webber International (Fla.) 98; Southern Oregon 91; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 83; Hastings (Neb.) 68; Black Hills State (S.D.) 43; Campbellsville (Ky.) 41; King (Tenn.) 32; Lee (Tenn.) 31; Oregon Tech 8; Menlo (Calif.) 5; Shawnee State (Ohio) 5; Union (Tenn.) 5; Jamestown (N.D.) 4; Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 3; Ozarks (Mo.) 3; Missouri Baptist 1.
