Oredigger Volleyball enters postseason at home on Saturday

Although their run through the Frontier Conference Tournament in Havre was shorter than they would have liked, the Montana Tech Orediggers Volleyball Team has advanced to the big bracket and will host a first-round match in the NAIA National Tournament this Saturday.

The Orediggers fell 3-1 to the University of Montana-Western Bulldogs 1-3 in the semifinal round of the tourney but their 19-10 overall record, 11-4 in the Frontier, was good enough for the selection committee to award the Orediggers a first-round contest against Bushnell, which will take place at 4pm this Saturday at Kelvin Sampson Court in the HPER Complex.

The Bushnell University Beacons are members of the Cascade Conference and hail from Eugene, Oregon.  The Beacons are 19-12 overall and most recently were swept by the College of Idaho in the Cascade Conference Tournament.  The Beacons were in the Mining City earlier this year for Montana Tech's Big Sky Challenge to start the season but the teams did not meet.  They are no strangers in playoff volleyball with the two squads meeting in 2021 and the Orediggers prevailing in five sets.  The winner of Saturday's match will advance to the 2024 NAIA National Tournament which will begin pool play in Sioux City, Iowa on December 7th.  There will be 8 pools with the winner of each advancing to bracket-style play with the National Championship Match set for December 10th.  This will be the 9th postseason appearance for Montana Tech Volleyball who are led this year by Frontier Conference First Team selections Kinnidi Willmore and Olivia LaBeau and second-teamer Rhys Layton.

For ticket information, please hit up the Orediggers online at godiggers.com.