Athletics - Lewis-Clark State

The Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team was ranked No. 8 in the final Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 poll, and received an at-large berth to the NAIA national tournament, officials from the NAIA announced on Sunday.

The Warriors’ ranking not only helped them receive one of the 11 at-large bids to nationals, but also qualified them to receive one of the 12 first-round byes. National tournament host Morningside (Iowa) and the top-11 ranked teams all earned a free pass to pool play and will skip the opening round.

Rocky Mountain, which defeated the Warriors 3-2 in the Frontier Conference title match on Saturday to win an automatic berth, moved from No. 9 to No. 7 in the poll and also earned a bye.

The 24 national qualifying teams which did not receive byes will play in 12 loser-out matches to decide the remaining 12 teams that advance to pool play. Those 12 first-round matches will be played this Saturday, while the remaining portion of the national tournament will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 3 in Sioux City, Iowa.

After the 12 opening round matches, to be held at on-campus sites, the final 24 remaining teams will advance to the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa. These teams will be placed into six pools and will play round-robin pool play Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the single-elimination bracket starting Dec. 2.

This will be the Warriors’ fifth straight appearance at nationals, and the program’s 12th appearance overall. Last year, LCSC went to 2-1 during pool play to advance to the single-elimination bracket. In single-elimination play, the Warriors knocked off Azusa Pacific but then fell to Lee University in the quarterfinals.

Along with LCSC and Rocky, Carroll College stands as the third member of the Frontier to qualify for the national tournament. The No. 23-ranked Saints received an at-large bid and will face No. 12 College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, in the opening round.

Below are the NAIA first-round pairings, the 36 NAIA qualifiers, and the final NAIA Top 25 poll.

Opening Round Matches
Nov. 19 | Campus Sites

Match 1	Carroll (Mont.) at College of Idaho
Match 2	Montreat (N.C.) at Indiana Wesleyan
Match 3	La Sierra (Calif.) at Vanguard (Calif.)
Match 4	Robert Morris (Ill.) at Missouri Baptist
Match 5	Xavier (La.) at Spring Hill (Ala.)
Match 6	Point Park (Pa.) at Indiana Tech
Match 7	Cal State San Marcos at Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)
Match 8	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at Taylor (Ind.)
Match 9	Oklahoma Baptist at Kansas Wesleyan
Match 10	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) at Bellevue (Neb.)
Match 11	Grand View (Iowa) at Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
Match 12	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) at Indiana East

Qualifying Teams


Team	Record*	Qualification	Appearances	Record	Titles
Azusa Pacific (Calif.)	27-6	At-large	10	26-13	1
Bellevue (Neb.)	29-6	Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champion	6	8-13
Biola (Calif.)	23-12	At-large	11	38-20
Cal State San Marcos	29-7	Association of Independent Institutions Tournament champion	First
Carroll (Mont.)	18-8	At-large	2	4-1
College of Idaho	23-3	At-large	7	11-14
Columbia (Mo.)	35-3	At-large	18	70-36	3
Concordia (Calif.)	32-1	Golden State Athletic Conference regular-season champion	7	24-8
Embry-Riddle (Fla.)	27-4	The Sun Conference Tournament champion	2	3-2
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	27-8	TranSouth Athletic Conference Tournament champion	3	0-2
Fresno Pacific (Calif.)	15-11	At-large	21	95-23	6
Grand View (Iowa)	38-7	Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament champion	First
Indiana East	37-8	Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champion	3	0-2
Indiana Tech	33-5	Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament champion	4	5-4
Indiana Wesleyan	34-4	Mid-Central Conference Tournament champion	2	0-1
Kansas Wesleyan	26-8	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champion	First
La Sierra (Calif.)	23-3	Association of Independent Institutions Tournament runner-up	First
Lee (Tenn.)	30-2	Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament champion	10	15-21
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	21-4	At-large	12	24-24
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	31-2	Mid-South Conference Tournament champion	First
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	27-7	Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament champion	First
Missouri Baptist	35-4	American Midwest Conference Tournament champion	3	5-5
Montreat (N.C.)	25-13	Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament champion	First	0-0
Morningside (Iowa)	26-6	Host berth/Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament champion	3	2-4
Oklahoma Baptist	30-10	Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament champion	First	0-0
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)	28-12	Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season champion	9	7-23
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)	18-8	At-large	14	44-23
Point Park (Pa.)	36-5	American Mideast/California Pacific Unaffiliated Group Tournament champion	First
Robert Morris (Ill.)	17-15	Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champion	First
Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	27-4	Frontier Conference Tournament champion	2	2-2
Southern Oregon	21-4	Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament champion	7	14-17
Spring Hill (Ala.)	38-1	At-large	2	0-4
Taylor (Ind.)	29-7	At-large	7	10-15
Texas at Brownsville	26-2	Red River Athletic Conference Tournament champion	4	10-5
Vanguard (Calif.)	21-12	At-large	3	3-5
Xavier (La.)	23-6	Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament champion	First

Top 25 Poll

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Concordia (Calif.) (22)	32-1	622
2	2	Texas at Brownsville	26-2	602
3	4	Lee (Tenn.)	30-2	580
4	5	Embry-Riddle (Fla.)	29-4	551
5	3	Columbia (Mo.)	35-3	538
6	6	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)	27-6	533
7	9	Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	27-4	499
8	7	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	21-4	461
9	13	Biola (Calif.)	23-12	460
10	12	Southern Oregon	21-4	444
11	11	Fresno Pacific (Calif.)	15-11	405
12	8	College of Idaho	23-3	400
13	15	Indiana Wesleyan	34-4	376
14	10	Vanguard (Calif.)	21-12	353
15	19	Missouri Baptist	35-4	315
16	18	Spring Hill (Ala.)	38-1	310
17	17	Indiana Tech	33-5	307
18	14	Taylor (Ind.)	29-7	305
18	16	Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)	18-8	305
20	20	Oklahoma Baptist	31-10	261
21	21	Bellevue (Neb.)	29-6	229
22	22	Grand View (Iowa)	38-6	190
23	23	Carroll (Mont.)	18-8	125
24	RV	Cal State San Marcos	29-7	119
25	25	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	27-8	96

Others receiving votes: College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 86; Morningside (Iowa) 80; Indiana East 74; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 54; Eastern Oregon 52; Shorter (Ga.) 43; Point Park (Pa.) 21; Westmont (Calif.) 17; Doane (Neb.) 15; Madonna (Mich.) 10; Robert Morris (Ill.) 8; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 7; La Sierra (Calif.) 7; Kansas Wesleyan 6; Viterbo (Wis.) 5; Asbury (Ky.) 3; The Master's (Calif.) 3; Grace (Ind.) 3; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 3; Georgetown (Ky.) 1; Baker (Kan.) 1; Lubbock Christian (Texas) 1; Cornerstone (Mich.) 1; Wiley (Texas) 1; Evangel (Mo.) 1.