NAIA Volleyball Nationals: XULA to play host to 10th-ranked Concordia (Neb.) at noon Saturday

NEW ORLEANS — For the second straight year and the fourth time in five seasons, Xavier University of Louisiana will be the home team for the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship Opening Round.

XULA (18-4, winner of 14 straight) will play Concordia (Neb.) (15-4) at noon Saturday at XULA’s Convocation Center. Twenty-four opening-round winners will advance to pool play at the tournament’s final site April 27-May 1 at Sioux City, Iowa.

Tickets for the XULA-Concordia match will be available online at xulagold.com. Click on the tickets link to purchase.

XULA, in its final season in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, won the GCAC regular-season and tournament championships for the 10th consecutive year. Concordia, from Seward, Neb., was ranked 10th in all five coaches polls this season and received an at-large bid to nationals. The Bulldogs have five victories against teams that qualified for nationals.

Concordia finished third in the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season, then lost in four sets to Northwestern (Iowa) in the GPAC Tournament semifinals at Sioux City.

This will be the first meeting between and Concordia and XULA. Concordia will be the third ranked opponent to visit XULA, joining Wayland Baptist (19th-ranked in 2015) and Viterbo (fifth-ranked in 2019).

XULA seeks a second consecutive trip to the final site. It made its first in 2019 after defeating William Carey in three sets in the opening round.

XULA was one of four schools from the South or Southwest to be designated as a first-round host. The others were Keiser, Oklahoma City and Reinhardt.