SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The University of Providence and Montana Tech volleyball teams both lost their opening matches at the NAIA national volleyball championships on Tuesday.
No. 17 Providence lost a five-set thriller to 16th-ranked Oklahoma City 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 13-15 to start pool play.
Kelsey Shaver had a team-high 20 kills, while Jensyn Turner added 17 kills and Aver Dyer had 13. Cydney Finberg-Roberts had 50 assists, 12 digs and two kills in the loss. Dyer and Shaver added 21 and 20 digs, respectively.
Lacy Beeler led Oklahoma City with 20 kills and 13 digs, while Marijana Bjelobrk added 12 kills and 14 digs. Sophia Salak had 60 assists in the win.
The Argos will play No. 1-seeded Park (Mo.) at 1 p.m. (MST) Wednesday.
The Orediggers lost their first pool play match to Concordia (Neb.) in four sets, 25-16, 22-25, 25-14, 25-18.
No. 15 Concordia hit an impressive .349 average in the win, compared to just .156 for Tech, which was led by Maureen Jessop with 12 kills and Karina Mickelson with 10. Sabrina Hopcroft had 16 digs, and McKenna Kaelber had 37 assists.
Emmie Noyd had 16 kills to lead Concordia.
Tech next faces No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan at 5 p.m. (MST) Wednesday.
