AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific is back in the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship Tournament for the first time since 2000 and the fifth time in program history.

The Cougars, who are 24-9 and finished third in the Golden State Athletic Conference, earned a wild card berth into the 26th Annual NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship Tournament which will be hosted by GSAC member Point Loma Nazarene, Nov. 30-Dec. 3, in San Diego.

Azusa Pacific enters the 20-team tournament unseeded and has been placed in Pool C of the 4-pool format. Ranked No. 7 in the final NAIA Coaches Pool, the Cougars will face unranked Indiana-Southeast, No. 15 Savannah Art & Design (Ga.), No. 4 Madonna (Mich.) and No. 2 National American (S.D.).

“That’s a difficult pool,” said second-year coach Chris Keife. “You have a former national champ (National American) and a tournament veteran (Madonna), both of whom are ranked in the Top 5, in the same pool. Plus, Savannah beat us earlier this year. We have our work cut out for us.”

The Cougars open pool play Wednesday (Nov. 30) against Indiana-Southeast at 1:30 p.m. (PST). On Thursday they take on Madonna and National American at 1:30 and 8:15 p.m., respectively, and conclude pool play Friday with a 1:30 p.m. match against Savannah Art & Design. The top 2 teams from each pool advance to Friday’s quarterfinals. The semis and championship match are slated for Saturday (Dec. 3).

“It’s exciting to be in the tournament,” said Keife. “We’ve been playing good volleyball the past month, and hopefully we are peaking at the right time. We’ll have to be sharp, strong and enduring to get out of pool play, and I think we can be all of that.”

The Golden State Athletic Conference had 4 schools advance into the national tournament. Top-ranked and undefeated Fresno Pacific is the No. 1 seed while defending national champion Cal Baptist is the second seed. Tournament host Point Loma Nazarene and Azusa Pacific round out the GSAC representation.

Azusa Pacific won the first-ever NAIA women’s volleyball national championship in 1980 with one of the finest teams in NAIA history. The Cougars didn’t return to the national tourney until 1991 when they advanced to the “Elite Eight.” They made return trips in 1994 and 2000, but did not advance out of pool play.

Click here to view the entire NAIA Tournament field, pool allotments and schedule.