NAIA No. 13 Viterbo Looking To Match Regular-Season Women’s Volleyball Title With Tourney Crown
CHICAGO — NAIA No. 13-ranked Viterbo University will look to gain a sweep of both the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s volleyball regular-season and tournament titles in its first go-round in the league when the latter event tips off Tuesday night at four sites.
Viterbo (22-9) comes in as the No. 1 seed in the eight-team tournament after going undefeated (14-0) during the conference regular season. The V-Hawks are riding an eight-match winning streak.
Entering as the No. 2 seed is Saint Xavier University (17-10), whose only league loss in 14 matches came to Viterbo in three games back on Oct. 18. The Cougars have won five matches in a row and 11 of 12.
Joining Viterbo and Saint Xavier in hosting first-round matches will be No. 3 seed Judson University (18-12) and No. 4 seed and defending tournament champion St. Ambrose University (15-15).
Tuesday’s tournament openers have No. 8 seed Trinity Christian College (9-22) traveling to La Crosse, Wis. to face Viterbo, while Saint Xavier hosts No. 7 Indiana University Northwest (14-17). The other two contests have No. 6 Olivet Nazarene University (14-17) at Judson (18-12) and University of St. Francis (17-17) meeting St. Ambrose in Davenport.
Semifinal-round matchups take place on Thursday at the highest remaining seeds followed by the championship on Saturday.
The tournament champion advances to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, which takes place Nov. 23 at one of various sites.
The complete tournament schedule follows:
Tuesday, November 12 – First Round
• Match #1: No. 8 Trinity Christian (9-22) at No. 1 Viterbo (22-9) — 6 pm CT
• Match #2: No. 5 St. Francis (17-17) at No. 4 St. Ambrose (15-15) — 7 pm CT
• Match #3: No. 7 Indiana Northwest (14-17) at No. 2 Saint Xavier (17-10) — 7 pm CT
• Match #4: No. 6 Olivet Nazarene (11-17) at No. 3 Judson (18-12) — 7 pm CT
Thursday, November 14 – Semifinal Round
• Match #5: Winner-Match #1 vs. Winner-Match #2 — TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)
• Match #6: Winner-Match #3 vs. Winner-Match #4 — TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)
Saturday, November 16 – Championship
• Match #7: Winner-Match #5 vs. Winner-Match #6 — TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)