SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The Madonna University volleyball team is making its 18th appearance at the 40th Annual Volleyball National Championship final site on Tuesday, Dec. 3 when they open play in Pool G of the national tournament held inside the Tyson Events Center. 

The Crusaders open play against the pools top seed, No. 7 Eastern Oregon University, at 10 a.m. EST, then face No. 10 Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) on Wednesday at 1 p.m. before wrapping up pool play against No. 24 Reinhardt University (Ga.) on Thursday at 11 a.m. The top two teams from the eight pools will advance to the Round of 16. 

The Blue and Gold are facing unfamiliar opponents in the pool play round as Lindsey Wilson is the only program with history against Madonna with MU holding a 2-0 record with the last meeting coming in 2009. 

Jodie Kelly leads the Crusaders offense as her 663 kills are not only a team-high but lead the NAIA while her 4.8 kills per game are second in the nation. She is also solid defensively as she leads the team with a .938 reception percentage, is second on the team with 373 digs, and is third with 67 blocks. 

Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference first-team honoree, Erica LaBaere, is a threat in the middle as she is second on the team with 315 kills and 77 blocks. Her position-mate, DJ Sargent, leads the team in blocks with 132 and is fourth on the team with 221 kills.

A pair of freshmen round out the offensive attack as Tauri Hintz is third on the team in kills with 251 from her outside hitter position while Janelle Kwasiborski has come on strong at the opposite position with 145 kills on the year. 

Setting the hitters is sophomore Betsy Cook who is averaging 10.25 assists per set with 892 on the year, both team highs. She's also third on the team with 23 service aces. Olivia Sweeney leads the team at the service line with 62 aces this year while Ryan Castle has 38 and Karolina Noszczyk has 27. 

Sweeney is also the leader on the defensive backline as she has 581 digs this year to lead the team. Jamie Ciacico (237 digs), Ryleigh Jacobs (200) and Katie Englehardt (175) will also play a role in defense for MU. 

THE SCHEDULE (all times EST)

• The compete opening round schedule and results will be available here.
• Tuesday, Dec. 3
  • 10 a.m. - Eastern Oregon vs. Madonna
  • 12 p.m. - Lindsey Wilson vs. Reinhardt
• Wednesday, Dec. 4
  • 11 a.m. - Reinhardt vs. Eastern Oregon
  • 1 p.m. - Madonna vs. Lindsey Wilson
• Thursday, Dec. 5
  • 11 a.m. - Reinhardt vs. Madonna
  • 1 p.m. - Eastern Oregon vs. Lindsey Wilson

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• The Crusaders are 29-30 in NAIA Pool Play all-time and have advanced to bracket play seven times in their 18 trips and are 3-7 in those games. They are 36-37 in all NAIA National Tournament games dating back to 1993
• Madonna has twice lost in the NAIA semifinals and two other times have played in a quarterfinal contest
• Madonna last advanced to the bracket round in 2015 and lost to Biola in the first round
• The Blue and Gold have dropped their last six pool play matches

THE OPPONENTS

• Eastern Oregon, 6 tournament appearances, last: 2018
  • Qualified as Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Runner-Up, received an opening-round bye
  • Made first appearance in 2014 and have qualified the past six seasons
  • Have failed to advance from their pool just once, 2015, and are 13-9 in tournament play
  • Have faced Lindsey Wilson in tournament play each of the past two seasons
  • Megan Bunn leads the offense with 368 kills while four other players have at least 130 kills this season
  • Madison Pilon runs the offense and averages 8.44 assists per set
  • Cambree Scott leads the defense at the net as she is eighth in the NAIA in blocks per game (1.27) and 12th in total blocks with 142
• Lindsey Wilson, 9 tournament appearances, last: 2018, 1 national title (2017)
  • Qualified as Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion, received an opening-round bye
  • Making their ninth consecutive appearance at the national tournament and are 23-12 in tournament play
  • Won the 2017 National Championship, defeated EOU in first round
  • Have advanced from pool play each of the past five years
  • Led by middle hitter Kasia Niderla who leads the NAIA in hitting percentage at .412 with 492 kills...also leads the team with 121 blocks
  • Camryn Rich and Autumn Proctor run the offense from the setter position and average 5.72 and 5.64 assists per set, respectively
• Reinhardt, 3 tournament appearances, last: 2018
  • Qualified as Appalachian Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion, won an opening-round contest 
  • Making their third appearance and are 2-3 in tournament play having gone 1-2 in pool play last season
  • The Eagles have eight players with at least 120 kills, led by Tessa Colden's 258 kills
  • Carlee Baxter and Erinn Marroquin run the offense and average 5.66 and 5.38 assists per set

LIVE COVERAGE

• The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches excluding the semifinals and championship matches live at the 2019 NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single-day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while a pool play pass is $24.95 (Dec. 3-5) and a championship package is available at $39.95. You can also buy an All-Championship pass and watch every championship streamed on the NAIA Network in 2019.
• Both semifinal matches that take place at 11:00 a.m. CST on Saturday, Dec. 7 will be broadcast of ESPN3 as well as the NAIA Network. The championship match will be played at 7:P00 p.m. CST December 7 and will be broadcast on ESPN3 for the sixth time.
• Live stats for all games will be provided via Dakstats and can be found here.

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