WEST PLAINS, Mo. – An estimated 100 students, faculty, staff and community members gave the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team a rousing send off today to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women’s National Volleyball Championship Tournament Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 19-21, at Casper, Wyoming.
The group gathered at 12:30 p.m. at the campus’ Student Recreation Center at the corner of West Trish Knight Street and Garfield Avenue and heard Missouri State-West Plains Chancellor Drew Bennett, Student Government Association (SGA) President Casey Buehler, West Plains, and Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker give Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann and her team their best wishes for a successful tournament. In addition, Bennett read a proclamation on behalf of West Plains Mayor Jack Pahlmann, who was unable to attend, praising the team for its many accomplishments this season and its 15th appearance at the national tournament, then presented the document to Wiedemann.
Wiedemann thanked everyone for their well wishes and praised the support the team received this year and every year since the program began. “We absolutely love representing our university and our community! The support we receive means a lot to us, and we appreciate all of the fans who are loud and proud and make a point to let us know they are cheering for us,” she said.
The Grizzlies, 25-9 and ranked 10th in the final National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) poll, punched their ticket to the tournament Nov. 7 by defeating Monroe College 28-26, 25-27, 25-17, 25-19 for the NJCAA District N championship in New Rochelle, New York.
According to information provided by NJCAA officials, the Grizzlies are seeded seventh and will play 10th seed North Idaho College (13-12), Coeur D’Alene, at noon local time in first round action.
Other teams and their seeds are No. 1 College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, 31-3; No. 2 Western Nebraska Community College, Scotts Bluff, 39-4; No. 3 Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming, 31-4; No. 4 Iowa Western Community College, Council Bluffs, 39-7; No. 5 Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, Florida, 31-5; No. 6 Polk State College, Winter Haven, Florida, 22-10; No. 8 College of Central Florida, Ocala, 26-12; No. 9 Blinn College, Brenham, Texas, 29-10; No. 11 San Jacinto College-Central, Pasadena, Texas, 28-13; No. 12 Wallace State Community College-Hanceville, Alabama, 39-6; No. 13 Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, 31-8; No. 14 Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas, 31-10; No. 15 Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona, 22-6; and No. 16 Frank Phillips College, Borger, Texas, 36-4.
The tournament bracket can be found on the tournament’s website, http://njcaacasper.net/. Match times are listed in Mountain Standard Time, one hour earlier than local Central Standard Time. All matches can be viewed live online at http://www.njcaatv.com/landing/index.
“We are excited about the things we have worked through this season and where we are at this point going into the national tournament,” Wiedemann said. “We want to continue to build on the little things that matter the most.”
For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, visit the team’s website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/vb/. For more information about the national tournament, visit http://njcaacasper.net/.