The Lady Cougars enter the event as the No. 1 seed with a 33-8 overall record. MVNU is making its 18th trip to the NCCAA National Tournament in the past 19 years having missed only the 2007 season when the team was competing in the NAIA National Tournament instead. The Lady Cougars earned their berth with the program’s 18th NCCAA East Region title.

MVNU is led by junior middle hitter Jackie Albrecht, who has been named both the American Mideast Conference and the NCCAA East Region Player of the Year this season. Albrecht has compiled 538 kills, 526 digs, 81 blocks, and 51 aces so far this year. Senior setter Kaylin Austen is among the national leaders with 1,447 assists, while junior libero Caitlin Myles leads the team with 660 digs. Senior right-side hitter Courtney Springer and junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy have pounded 287 and 338 kills respectively, and Yutzy leads the team with 143 blocks. The Lady Cougars are averaging 12.69 kills as a team.

MVNU will begin pool play on Thursday at noon against No. 9 seed Southeastern (Fla.) University (9-23), the NCCAA South Region champion, followed by a 6:30 p.m. match against No. 5 seed King (Tenn.) College (27-10), the NCCAA Mid-East Region runner-up. On Friday, MVNU will close out pool play against No. 8 seed Bryan (Tenn.) College (28-15), an at-large selection and the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular-season co-champion, at 10:00 a.m. and then No. 4 seed Northwestern (Minn.) College (23-11), the NCCAA North Central Region champion, at 4:00 p.m. The top two teams from the pool will then advance to the semifinals on Saturday at either 10:00 a.m. or noon with the championship match slated for 3:00 p.m.

The other pool consists of No. 2 seed Campbellsville (Ky.) University, No. 3 seed Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) University, No. 6 seed Malone University, No. 7 seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) University, and No. 10 seed Pensacola Christian (Fla.) College.

"We are looking forward to the opportunity to represent our institution and our region at the NCCAA Tournament,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. "The tournament field is very strong with every team capable of beating any other team, so it is important for us to be ready to play in each match. We are looking forward to a great weekend of volleyball.”

"Playing in the NCCAA National Tournament is always one of the biggest highlights of our season,” Swanson added. "It is great to come together with other Christian colleges. While we are all competing to win, there is also great fellowship and the service projects are important. I know that our players always come away with great memories and personal growth from playing in the NCCAA National Tournament.”

Fans can follow all the action of the NCCAA National Tournament at http://www.nccaachampionships.com/d1volleyballresults.html. Each match will also be webcast live for free at http://webcast51.com/nccaa/. Viewers must click on either the Court 1 or Court 2 link to find the match they want to watch.