COMING UP: NAIA Volleyball National Championship – Opening Round at No. 19 Montana Western, Saturday, 3 p.m.
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Saturday's match at Montana Western will be streamed on the
Bulldog Sports Network with Wally Feldt on the call, with Live Stats available through the
NAIA Stat Broadcast Platform. Fans heading to Dillon can purchase tickets ($10) online through
Western's Ticket Portal.
MULTIMEDIA: All photos from the 2024 season, including Senior Weekend, have been posted online via the
OIT Volleyball Flickr Page, while game highlight clips posted online via the
OIT Volleyball You Tube Channel.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – MONTANA WESTERN: Tech heads to Dillon, Mont., for their first-ever game in the Treasure State, squaring off against Montana Western in the Opening Round of the NAIA Championships. The Bulldogs (22-9) finished third in the Frontier Conference regular-season standings and reached their conference tournament title game – earning their second-straight trip to Nationals. Western averages 13.0 kills and 2.4 blocks per set, while leading the FC in digs per set (19.5) – thanks to the play of all-conference outside Jazi Smith (3.27 k/s, 4.02 d/s, 25 aces). Middles Peyton Vogl (2.17 k/s, 1.10 b/s) and Danyel Martin (1.96 k/s, 1.11 b/s) are key at the net, along with opposite Jordan Olson (2.54 k/s, 0.70 b/s). The tandem of Taylor Peterson (4.80 a/s, 2.20 d/s, 37 aces) and Kaylee Fritz (5.39 a/s, 2.23 d/s) share setting duties, with Kelsey Goddard (5.15 d/s) the libero. Last season, the Dawgs won their Opening Round match at SAGU, before dropping two matches in Sioux City – their first-ever trip to the tournament. It is the fourth all-time meeting between the teams, with OIT claiming neutral site match-ups in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
AGAINST THE FRONTIER: OIT is 10-13 all-time against Frontier Conference teams, with two of the opponents (Lewis-Clark State and Westminster) now in other leagues. The Owls have played five of the six current FC clubs – having yet to meet Montana State-Northern.
AT LARGE BID: The Lady Owls were one of 14 teams to earn at-large bids to the NAIA Volleyball Championships from the tournament selection committee – based on Regional ARC ratings and Statistical Metrics. Eight teams in the final Top-25 poll received at-large, as did five teams in the others receiving votes – while four teams (Park, Evangel, Ottawa, Bethel) who received votes, did not earn a bid.
CCC GETS SIX TEAMS: For the first time in league history, the Cascade Conference received six bids to the NAIA Championships, with the West ARC receiving the most teams of any region – as 11 clubs earned spots in the tournament. The four ranked CCC teams – Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon, Corban and College of Idaho – all received home dates, while both Tech and Bushnell, head to Montana for Opening Round contests.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: All 48 teams in the tournament will play an Opening Round match on Saturday, with the 24 winners advancing to the Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa. In Iowa, teams will be assigned into eight 3-team pools, with the winners of their respective pools advancing to the single-elimination bracket to determine the national champion.
HISTORY AT NATIONALS: The 2024 season marks OIT's second trip to the NAIA Championships – as the 2021 team made history in earning the school's first-ever bid. That squad earned an Opening Round host bid, sweeping Westmont to advance to the final site in Sioux City, before the club lost a 5-set match-up vs. Viterbo and a 4-set contest with Concordia in Pool Play.
WINNING SEASONS: With a 19-13 overall record, the Owls have clinched their 16th winning season since volleyball returned to the school in 1998 – Tech has recorded 16 seasons with 15-or-more wins during that time frame, posting 20-plus wins seven times, including a school record 24 victories in 2021.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RECAP: OIT picked up their biggest win of the season in the first-round of the Cascade Conference Championships, upsetting No. 6-seed Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston. Tech would match-up against No. 3 seed Southern Oregon, losing a tight 4-set match to the Raiders – who would go on to upset No. 2-seed Corban and No. 1-seed Eastern Oregon to win the league crown.
GRACE EARNS ALL-CCC HONORS: Six-rotation player
Molly Grace was honored by the league as a first-team All-CCC selection – her second all-conference award and first first-team pick. The senior had a huge CCC Tournament – leading Tech with 20 kills and 16 digs in the win at LC, followed by 16 kills and 12 digs vs. Southern Oregon – ranking third in the league in aces per set and kills per set. Grace has a team-best 15 double-doubles in 2024, including 4-in-a-row heading into the national tournament.
WHALEN CRACKS 600-DIG MARK: The dig parade continued for
Kaley Whalen, as the libero not only surpassed the single-season digs mark in the road win at LC State, but became the first OIT player to surpass 600 digs in a season. The junior, who earned second-team All-CCC honors for the second-straight year, had 28 digs in the first-round victory, added 15 digs in the quarterfinal loss to Southern – pushing her total to 603.
BOYD NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: A banner year by setter
Lucy Boyd earned the first-year player CCC Freshman of the Year honors by the coaches. Boyd leads the CCC in total assists (789) and assists per set (7.42), while ranking in the Top-15 in aces (38) – becoming the first OIT student-athlete to earn the honor.
HICKS NEW BLOCKS LEADER: Middle blocker
Kate Hicks was key to the Owls success in the CCC Tournament – tying a career-high with 11 kills vs. Southern, while combining for nine blocks in the two matches. For the senior, the block total pushed into the No. 1 spot in program history for career blocks, heading into the NAIA Championships with 333.
TEVELDE STEPS UP: The Owls got big production from setter
Paige Tevelde in the conference tournament – stepping up after
Lucy Boyd was sidelined during the LC State match. The senior posted her two best games of the season, logging a 34 assist-12 dig double-double in the upset in Lewiston, followed by a season-high 53 assist effort vs. SOU.
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, the Owls lead the CCC in digs per set (17.47), ranking No. 3 in blocks per set (2.52), No. 4 in aces per set (1.78), No. 6 in attack percentage (.181), ranking No. 7 in kills per set (12.11) and assists per set (11.40). Individually,
Lucy Boyd leads the CCC in assists per set (7.42),
Kaley Whalen is No. 1 in digs per set (5.34),
Aleksen Thayer is No. 2 in blocks per set (1.30),
Molly Grace is No. 3 in aces per set (0.44) and in kills per set (3.38),
Tiana Barrett is No. 3 in attack percentage (.335) and No. 8 in blocks per set (1.10), with
Paige Tevelde No. 10 in assists per set (5.42).
SEASON RECORD BOOK: Four Owls have cracked the single-season Top-20 record book – with
Kaley Whalen No. 1 in digs (602),
Aleksen Thayer No. 2 in blocks (139), while
Molly Grace ranks No. 2 in aces (50) and No. 6 in kills (382) and
Lucy Boyd is No. 12 in assists (789) and No. 15 in aces (38).
CAREER RECORD BOOK: Eight players are currently ranked in the Top-25 of the OIT career record book – with
Kate Hicks holding the school record in blocks (333),
Kaley Whalen is No. 4 in digs (1,364) and No. 19 in assists (202),
Molly Grace is No. 5 in kills (1,069), No. 18 in digs (705) and No. 23 in aces (66),
Paige Tevelde is No. 9 in assists (1,478),
Lucy Boyd is No. 15 in assists (789),
Aleksen Thayer is No. 14 in blocks (225), with
Savanna Sterck No. 19 in kills (594),
Abigail Sorensen No. 23 in digs (602) and
Willow Jacobson No. 24 in blocks (140). Sorensen is also just outside the Top-25 in aces (59).
LOOKING AHEAD: With a win, the eight pools and pool-play assignments for the Final Site of the NAIA Championships will be announced on Sunday, with tournament play set to begin on Dec. 4.
