BELLEVUE, Neb. — The Texas Wesleyan Volleyball team is on their way to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round for the third season in a row.
This year the Rams will travel to Bellevue (Neb.) to take on the No. 18 Bruins (16-5) on April 17 starting at 1 pm at Bellevue West High School.
TXWES is no stranger to the big stage, having appeared at the national tournament 12 times in the program's history.
They carry a 18-4 overall record into their 13
th appearance against Bellevue, qualifying for the opening round after finishing as the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up.
The Rams boast the most accurate hitter in the nation in middle blocker
Bailey Foy who has hit .434 this season. The senior from Paris, Texas averages 3.3 kills a set and has 235 total kills this season.
Foy is backed by a trio of power hitters on offense with
Nyia Anderson knocking down 2.9 kills per set,
Veronika Webb 2.3 k/s and
Sydney Charlton 1.9 k/s.
The offense is set in motion by the general of the court,
Morgan Burns, who averages 9.8 assists per game; second best in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
The setter from La Vernia, Texas has totaled 700 assists this season and has had 14 consecutive matches with 30 assists or more. She set a career high 50 assists vs Wayland Baptist in the SAC semifinal.
Burns has had 6 double-doubles this season, matching Anderson also with six.
Anderson leads the team with 3.1 digs per set, while
Haley Harvey averages 2.9 a set and
Andrea Malek 2.8 a set.
At the net, Foy is the leading blocker, averaging 1 a game, for 69 total this year. Just behind her, Webb has 66 total blocks.
Out of the North Star Athletic Association, the Bellevue Bruins return to the National Tournament for the fifth-straight season and the 12th time in the last 14 years.
Bellevue won the NSAA regular season for the first time in school history, finishing with a 12-2 league record. The Bruins fell to No. 20 Viterbo in the championship match of the NSAA Tournament on April 10 in Bellevue.
This will be the 10th time that BU has played an Opening Round match. In its previous nine Opening Round matches, BU has posted a record of 6-3, advancing to Sioux City on six occasions.
There are 48 teams competing in the opening round at campus locations this weekend with winners advancing to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa on April 27-May 1.
Opening Round Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 17 | Campus Sites
Opening Round Pairings
| Visiting Team |
|
Host Team |
| St. Mary (Kan.) |
at |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
| IU East (Ind.) |
at |
Park (Mo.) |
| Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) |
at |
Westmont (Calif.) |
| Georgetown (Ky.) |
at |
Indiana Wesleyan |
| Trinity Christian (Ill.) |
at |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
| Milligan (Tenn.) |
at |
Missouri Baptist |
| Bryan (Tenn.) |
at |
Marian (Ind.) |
| UC Merced (Calif.) |
at |
Eastern Oregon |
| Cottey (Mo.) |
at |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
| Mobile (Ala.) |
at |
Keiser (Fla.) |
| Mayville State (N.D.) |
at |
Midland (Neb.) |
| The Master's (Calif.) |
at |
Corban (Ore.) |
| McPherson (Kan.) |
at |
Grand View (Iowa) |
| Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
at |
Providence (Mont.) |
| MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
at |
Dordt (Iowa) |
| William Woods (Mo.) |
at |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
| Madonna (Mich.) |
at |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
| Texas Wesleyan |
at |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
| Bushnell (Ore.) |
at |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
| Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
at |
Oklahoma City |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
at |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
| Aquinas (Mich.) |
at |
IU Kokomo (Ind.) |
| Bethel (Ind.) |
at |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
| Concordia (Neb.) |
at |
Xavier (La. |
