It's NAIA National Tournament Time!
Posted November 27, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The best NAIA women's volleyball teams in the country have come together for the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Tournament at Columbia College.

UTB/TSC is seeded in the No. 12 positions in the 20-team tournament, which begins Wednesday, November 28, with pool play competition. The 20 teams have been divided into five pools of four teams each, guaranteeing every team that attends three matches at the national tournament.

The Scorpions have been slotted in Pool B with No. 2 California Baptist University (27-4) from Riverside, California; No. 9 Lewis-Clark College (25-6) of Lewiston, Idaho; and No. 19 University of Virginia-College at Wise (25-13) from Wise, Virginia.

Two teams will advance from each pool to a field of 10 teams that will play Friday. Four teams play first-round games Friday morning, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals Friday afternoon and evening. The semifinals are scheduled Saturday morning and the championship match is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

All Scorpion matches will be audio webcast through the Scorpion Athletics website at http://athletics.utb.edu.

For the Scorpions to advance to Friday's competition, they must win two matches in pool play, or win one match and hope for specific tiebreakers.

The first three games for the Scorpions in Pool B will be as follows:

• 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, November 28 vs. Lewis-Clark, Arena

• 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 28 vs. California Baptist, Sport Court

• 3:45 p.m. Thursday, November 29 vs. Virginia-Wise, Stephens

The trip to the national tournament is the first for the Scorpions since joining the NAIA in 2006. The Scorpions qualified for the national tournament when it competed as a junior college team in the NJCAA in 1988, 1991, 1995, 1998 and 2004.

The trip to the national tournament will be the second for three members of the team. Senior Ashley was a freshman with the Scorpions in their trip to nationals in 2004 in West Plains, Mo.

Juniors Claudia Alarcon and Daianarah Bracero advanced to the NJCAA national tournament in their freshman and sophomore years when they were played for Miami Dade College.

Scorpions vs. Lewis-Clark, 11:15 a.m. Wednesday

The critical match for the Scorpions is their tournament opener against Lewis-Clark, which is seeded higher than the Scorpions because they come from the tougher Region I, which received two spots in the national tournament. Westminister (Utah), also from Region I, qualified as the No. 10 seed in the tournament, one position behind Lewis-Clark.

Lewis-Clark defeated Westminister in the Region I tournament championship match, 3-0, but the two teams were not favored to represent the region. College of Idaho and Southern Oregon were ranked No. 8 and No. 10 in the nation, respectively, but both were upset in the semis.

With a strong front row presence, UTB/TSC has a slight height advantage over Lewis-Clark. However, any other comparisons between the two teams are hard to make because they did not play any common opponents.

Because Lewis-Clark is the No. 9 seed and the Scorpions are the No. 12 seed, a victory over the Warriors is essential to advance to Friday's competition.

"Of our three matches in pool play, the Lewis-Clark one is the most critical one," Scorpion head coach Marcus Young said. "We match up well with them, but we haven't seen them play, and we haven't played anybody they have played. Region I is a very strong region, so we know that they must be a very solid team."

A victory over Lewis-Clark would not guarantee anything, but would give the Scorpions a good start in the national tournament.

Lewis-Clark has two players listed at 6-0 and two others at 5-11 who anchor the front line. Anile Clemente, a 5-11 outside hitter, has 320 kills in 100 games, but three other players have at least 246. setters Lisa Davis and Mindy Moyer have 694 and 340 assists, respectively.

Scorpions vs. California Baptist, 6 p.m. Wednesday

By far, the toughest opponent for the Scorpions in pool play will be the nation's No. 2 ranked team for much of the season. California Baptist comes from Region II, which had the top five ranked teams in the nation for most of the season. Four teams from Region I -- Fresno Pacific, Cal-Baptist, Concordia, and Biola -- advanced to the national tournament, the most allowed from a single region. The fifth-ranked team -- Azusa Pacific -- did not advance to Columbia.

With a very strong and deep front line, California-Baptist will be heavily favored to defeat the Scorpions in pool play, making the Lewis-Clark match even more important. The xxx finished xxx in the xxx Conference regular season, and qualified as the No. xx seed in the Region II Tournament. The Scorpions and Lancers have no common opponents.

As members of the Golden State Athletic Conference, Cal-Baptist lost only four matches during the season, three to Fresno Pacific. They are very talented and have a very strong bench.

"Cal-Baptist comes from a very strong conference, and the level of volleyball they play there is the best in the country," Young said. "We will have our hands full with them. It is going to be a tremendous challenge for our team, and we hope to make it tough for them. We would have to play a perfect game to have an opportunity to win."

The Lancers have four players listed at 6-2 and three others taller than 5-10. Verania Willis, a 6-0 senior from Costa Rica, as 598 kills in 103 games. Shi Fei, a 6-2 sophomore from China, has 376 kills, and Yudelka Bonilla, a 5-11 senior from the Dominican Republic, has 326 kills. Setter Kayla Van Duyn, a 5-10 junior, has 1,263 assists.

Scorpions vs. Virginia-Wise, 3:45 p.m. Thursday

UTB/TSC will be favored to defeat a Virginia-Wise team that comes from the Appalachian Athletic Conference, which is not as highly regarded as others around the country. The Lady Cavaliers entered the Region XII Tournament as the #5 seed, and pulled off two surprising victories to qualify for nationals. UVW upset No. 1 seed King College, 3-2, in the semifinals and No. 2 seed Bryan College, 3-2, in the finals to gain the national tournament berth.

The Scorpions will have a size advantage over the Lady Cavaliers, who were never ranked in the national Top 25 or received any votes for the national poll at any point during the season.

"For Virginia-Wise to get to the national tournament is a great accomplishment for them as well, and we have to respect that," Young said. "They pulled off two big victories to get to nationals. By the time we play them Thursday, we should know exactly where we stand in the tournament. Hopefully the match will be important for us to qualify to get to play Friday."

Virginia-Wise is led by 5-9 outside hitters Natasha Viers from Abingdon, Virginia, who has 705 kills in 144 games, an impressive 4.90 average. Kristin Salyer, a 5-10 outside hitter from Gate City, Virginia, has 455 in 146 games for a 3.12 average. Setter Sam Puryea from Briston, Tenn. has recorded 1,632 assists. The tallest player is 5-11 Whitney Lane, who has 297 kills.