COLUMBIA, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson volleyball team visits 14
th-ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) at 4 p.m. CST on Saturday for the Opening Round of the NAIA National Tournament.
The Blue Raiders are making their 12
th all-time appearance in the national tournament and first since 2021. Through its 11 previous trips, Lindsey Wilson is 29-16 in tournament matches, including a 4-1 mark the opening round.
Mount Vernon Nazarene, out of the Crossroads League, is reaching its fifth national tournament. The Cougars bowed out in pool play a season ago and enter this season with an "at-large" bid after falling in their conference tournament semifinal to No. 22 Marian (Ind.).
First-team All-Crossroads League honoree Lyssi Snouffer paces the Cougar offense with 534 kills, the third-most in the nation. The senior outside hitter averages 4.6 kills per set while maintaining a .246 attack percentage. She also ranks second on the team for total digs and fifth for service aces and blocks.
Another First-team selection, Reagan Nuss, passed out 1,117 assists – 9.71 per set – and widened her versatility by contributing 358 digs, 78 kills, 33 blocks, and 32 aces.
Defensively, Brooke Fatzinger and Abbey Niemesh each rank inside the top-10 nationally for total blocks with 99 and 98, respectively, and Jaelyn Tang leads the Cougars' back line with 548 digs.
Lindsey Wilson checks in on an eight-match winning streak that includes the program's 10
th Mid-South Conference tournament championship. The Blue Raiders have shined brightest from the service line with 308 aces – third-most in the NAIA and fifth-most in program-history – and actively sit 12
th in the nation for total kills at 1,663.
Senior and First-team All-Mid-South recipient
Elisa Burzio is hitting .278 with 110 kills during the Blue Raiders' current winning streak. She also has five double-doubles and recorded three service aces in four different matches during the stretch.
Setters
Monika Szwarc and
Luiza Gonçalves have each made four starts for Lindsey Wilson over the last eight matches. The latter of the two, a First-team All-conference honoree, needs one service ace to set a new single-season program record, while Szwarc's 195 assists are a team-high since October 12.
In the Blue Raider back line, Second-team All-Mid-South pick
Laura Milori caught fire in mid-October, becoming a reliable libero in her senior season. She produced a career-high 35 digs in Lindsey Wilson's semifinal win over Cumberland (Tenn.) on November 8 and possess a .953 serve reception percentage. Meanwhile, at the net,
Brenda Arango is on an eight-match streak of recording four or more total blocks.
Saturday's match-up is set to pin Lindsey Wilson against its sixth different ranked opponent of the 2024 season. The Blue Raiders last defeated a ranked team on November 13, 2021, when they upset No. 10 Life (Ga.) in the Mid-South Conference tournament championship.
This weekend will also be just the second all-time meeting between Lindsey Wilson and Mount Vernon Nazarene. The two sides met in Mount Vernon on October 10, 2008, where the hosts prevailed 3-0.
Live coverage of Saturday's opening round match will be provided by Mount Vernon Nazarene Athletics
