KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The University of Providence Argos and Montana Tech Orediggers will compete in the 2019 NAIA volleyball national championships, after the organization announced the qualifiers on Monday.
Providence (24-6 overall, 9-3 conference) defeated Tech (25-7, 9-3) in the Frontier Conference tournament championship on Saturday, sweeping the Orediggers by scores of 33-31, 25-22, 25-13. It was the second consecutive league title for the Argos and clinched only the second appearance in the national championships in program history.
The Argos were given the Frontier Conference's automatic berth to the national championships by way of the league tournament title, while the Orediggers clinched an at-large berth. Tech will be making the program's fifth appearance in the tournament and first since 2017.
Both the Argos and Orediggers avoided the opening-round matchups, which will see 24 teams battle for 12 berths to the official championships. Those matches will be held at host sites this Saturday, Nov. 23. Providence and Tech are among the top 19 seeds and championship host, Morningside (Iowa), that automatically qualified for the NAIA national championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa.
Championship matches will begin with three days of pool play from Dec. 3-5, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the final elimination bracket on Dec. 6. The national champion will be determined on Dec. 7 with the final match broadcast on ESPN3 at 6 p.m. (MDT).
