SAN ANTONIO (Nov. 18, 2024) - The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) volleyball squad will face No. 2-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska (CU), in the opening round of the 45th  Annual NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The Bulldogs will host the match in Seward, Neb., on Nov. 23, at 1 p.m.

The Saints advanced to the opening round for the fifth time in program history. Head Coach Scott Mattera is in his sixth season and led the team to the opening round in 2020 after winning the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Postseason Tournament. OLLU's previous appearances at nationals were in 2015-2017 under Jeremiah Tiffin. The Saints advanced to pool play in 2017 after defeating Oklahoma City University. 

OLLU finished the regular season at 23-8 overall and 14-2 in the RRAC. They were 12-3 when playing at home and 10-2 on the road. Nine of the conference victories were sweeps. The Saints entered the RRAC Postseason Tournament as the No. 2 seed. They opened the tournament by facing No. 3-seed Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) in the semifinals. The Gold Nuggets were the reigning conference champions and had defeated the Saints in the championship match the previous three years. The matches were all five sets and the Saints were determined to stop XULA's postseason momentum. 

The Gold Nuggets took the first set 25-19 backed by a .345 hitting percentage. Both squads totaled 14 kills but Xavier committed only four errors. The Saints responded in the second set. They led 22-20 and attacking errors and a serving error from Xavier gave the Saints a 25-23 win. Anais Velasquez and Camila Ramirez tallied key kills late in the frame. The Saints rode the momentum into the third set with a convincing 25-15 victory. The Gold Nuggets had a negative hitting percentage and the Saints tallied 14 kills. OLLU ended the match with 17 kills in the fourth set. The Saints had a .364 hitting percentage, which was the most of any set. Velasquez sealed the win with a kill that was assisted by Lauren Reynard. 

The championship matchup was set between No. 1-seed Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) and the No. 2 seed-Saints. Texarkana downed No. 4-seed Louisiana Christian University 3-0 in the semifinals. Prior to the championship match, the Saints had split the road trip to Texarkana in September. They were swept in the first match but handed the Eagles their only conference loss of the season on the following day. 

The Saints won the first set 25-23. OLLU tallied 14 kills and six errors on 44 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .182. The Eagles added 13 kills and nine errors on 42 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .095. In the second set, OLLU won 25-20, and the Saints recorded 10 kills on eight errors in 40 attacks for a .050 hitting percentage. TAMUT came out even with eight kills and eight errors on 39 attacks for a hitting percentage of zero. In the third set, the Saints had 12 kills on four errors in 33 attacks, for a hitting percentage of .242. The Eagles fared better, with 14 kills and four errors in 37 attacks, for a hitting percentage of .270. Overall, the Saints recorded 36 kills and 18 errors on 117 attacks, for a .154 hitting percentage. The team also had 34 assists, five aces, and 57 digs.

OLLU only lost one set in the RRAC Postseason Tournament. The Eagles had blanked seven of their eight opponents prior to the championship. Velasquez was named RRAC Tournament MVP after leading the Saints with 10 kills on 21 attacks against TAMUT. The freshman was joined by Ramirez, Reynard and Tina Trevino on the All-Tournament team. During the match, Trevino reached 2,001 digs.

The team heads to Nebraska on a four-match winning streak. The Saints are averaging 13.2 kills per set with a hitting percentage of .203. They are outscoring opponents 1866 to 1424. Ramirez leads the team with 346 kills, followed by Mia Francis with 299 and Velasquez with 213. Reynard has marked 795 assists and Trevino has 621 digs. 

The No. 2-ranked Bulldogs lost in the championship match of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) on Saturday. They ran into the No. 1 team in the nation, Northwestern College, and lost in an exciting five-set match. Concordia went 24-3 overall and 15-1 in conference play, with the lone conference loss also coming against Northwestern. No. 5-ranked Bellevue University was the only other program to beat the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs reached NAIA Pool Play last season and were ranked first in the nation at one point. The team has made six nationals appearances and advanced to the quarterfinals in 2020 and 2021. Head Coach Ben Boldt has a 127-47 record since joining the team in 2018.

Mattera previously coached at Concordia from 2012-2017 before coming to San Antonio. 

Concordia is led by Ashley Keck with 323 kills. Gabi Nordaker has a hitting percentage of .352 and Savannah Shelburne tops the team with 31 service aces. Defensively, Nordaker has 28 solo blocks and Rebecca Gebhardt tallies 4.29 digs per set.

The match will be live-streamed here.