MVNU, which is seeded eighth in the event and was ranked 13th in the final NAIA poll, has posted a 39-2 record so far this year. The Lady Cougars, who won the American Mideast Conference South Division regular-season title with an 11-1 mark, earned an automatic bid into the NAIA National Tournament by winning four straight matches at the AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament. At one point this season, MVNU won 23 straight matches, and the Lady Cougars also finished the year 19-0 at home. In addition, both of the team’s losses were to teams who were ranked in the NAIA poll at the time - No. 13 Georgetown (Ky.) College and No. 24 Walsh University.

MVNU is led by senior middle hitter Shena Beheler (left), a two-time NAIA Honorable Mention All-American who was selected as the AMC South Division and NAIA Region IX Player of the Year this season. Beheler is averaging 4.62 kills and 1.57 blocks per game and needs just 20 more kills to tie the school’s career mark in that category. She currently ranks fourth in NAIA history with 2,708 career kills and third with 949 blocks.

Senior libero Tiffany Milburn has also had an outstanding season as she leads the Lady Cougars in digs (731), aces (59), and serve reception percentage (.954 with 47 errors in 1,021 attempts) to earn a spot on the AMC South Division Second Team. She ranks first in school history in career serve reception attempts (3,771), second in career digs (2,487 - just 32 digs shy of tying the all-time mark), third in career aces (203), and eighth in career serve attempts (2,561).

Sophomore setter Kaylin Austen has handed out 1,655 assists in her first season in a starting role to earn AMC South Division Honorable Mention status. Meanwhile, sophomore right-side hitter Courtney Springer has pounded 379 kills with 419 digs and 95 blocks on the way to being named to both the AMC South Division First Team and the NAIA Region IX Team. Freshman middle hitter Jackie Albrecht and junior outside hitter Audrey Hickinbotham were also both AMC South Division Honorable Mention picks with 362 and 344 kills respectively. Sophomore middle hitter Stephanie Zollars rounds out the starting lineup by contributing 230 kills and 67 blocks.

“It is a privilege to be going to the NAIA National Tournament,” said MVNU head coach Paul Swanson, who is the NAIA’s all-time wins leader with a career record of 849-299 in 25 years - 24 of which have come guiding the Lady Cougars. “We know that it will be awesome competition, but we are excited for the challenge. Our players have worked very hard, improved throughout the season, performed well in the clutch, and are looking forward to this tournament experience.”

The tournament gets under way with a banquet for all 20 teams on Tuesday night. Then, the teams are divided into five pools of four teams for pool play action on Wednesday and Thursday. The top two teams in each of the five pools will advance to the first round of the single elimination portion of the tournament on Friday with the quarterfinals also played that day. Then, the semifinals and championship will take place on Saturday.

MVNU’s first pool-play opponent will be Madonna (Mich.) University on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. CST. The Crusaders (33-10), who are ranked 21st in the final NAIA poll, won their 11th straight Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference regular-season title, the WHAC Tournament title, and the NAIA Region VIII Tournament title to advance to the NAIA National Tournament for the sixth straight year and the 10th time in 21 seasons. In its nine previous appearances in the national tournament, Madonna has posted a 23-21 record with two third-place finishes.

The Crusaders are coached by Jerry Abraham (on right with Coach Swanson on left), who ranks second in NAIA history with an overall record of 842-219 to stand just seven wins behind Swanson on the all-time list. Junior outside hitter Lubovj Tihomirova (5.93 kills per game) was selected as the WHAC Player of the Year this season and was an NAIA Third Team All-American last year, while senior Jacqui Gatt (5.37 digs per game) was chosen as the WHAC Libero of the Year. Sophomore setter Inta Grinvalds (12.81 assists per game) also earned a spot on the WHAC First Team, while sophomore outside hitter Mary McGinnis (3.59 kills per game) and junior middle hitter Stephanie Parslow (1.60 kills per game) were WHAC Honorable Mention selections.

On Thursday, MVNU will square off with Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University at 9:00 a.m. CST in the Lady Cougars’ second pool-play match. The Tigers (22-19), who received votes in the final NAIA poll, earned their berth into the NAIA National Tournament by winning the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title and the NAIA Region VII Tournament title to run their season-high winning streak to seven straight matches after finishing third in the CCAC regular-season standings. This will be the sixth NAIA National Tournament appearance for Olivet Nazarene, and the Tigers have a 2-17 mark in five previous trips.

Senior outside hitter Amber McKean (2.97 kills per game) and freshman right-side hitter Tara Schmidt (2.63 kills per game) were both named to the CCAC First Team with Schmidt also being selected as the CCAC Freshman of the Year. Meanwhile, junior outside hitter Michelle McFadden (2.58 kills per game) and freshman middle blocker Sara Byrne (2.11 kills and 1.30 blocks per game) were both named to the CCAC Second Team. Olivet Nazarene is coached by Brenda Williams, who has a career record of 639-435 to rank 10th in NAIA history in career wins.

The Lady Cougars will close out pool play on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. CST against third-seeded Concordia (Calif.) University. The Eagles (26-5), who are ranked third in the final NAIA poll and whose five losses have come to NAIA No. 1 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) University (twice) and NAIA No. 2 California Baptist University (three times), received an at-large berth into the NAIA National Tournament. Concordia, which is making its fourth straight trip to the national tournament, has an all-time national tournament mark of 9-3 that includes one runner-up finish and one third-place finish.

Concordia is led by a pair of returning NAIA Second Team All-Americans in senior middle blocker Lindsey Campbell (2.84 kills per game) and junior outside hitter Traci Weamer (3.44 kills per game). Both players were named to the Golden State Athletic Conference Team - Campbell for the third time and Weamer for the second straight year. Junior outside hitter Stephanie Scheele (2.66 kills per game) was also named to the All-GSAC Team. The Eagles are coached by Paula Weishoff, who has posted a 113-24 record and led the team to the NAIA National Tournament in each of her four seasons. She won a national title as a player at the University of Southern California in 1980 and two more national titles as a coach at USC (2002 and 2003). She also won both a silver and a bronze medal as a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 and 1992 respectively.

Top-seeded Fresno Pacific is the favorite to win the tournament as the Sunbirds begin play with a 31-1 record. They were the No. 1-ranked team in every NAIA poll this season and finished as the national runner-up in 2006. Fresno Pacific’s only loss this season came at the hands of fourth-seeded Biola (Calif.) University (28-7). Second-seeded California Baptist (27-4), the 2004 and 2005 national champion, and fifth-seeded National American (S.D.) University (23-10), the 2006 national champion, round out the top teams in each pool.