Mishawaka, Ind. --- The (RV) Bethel Pilots Women's Volleyball team has made it to the NAIA Opening Round as an at-large bid for the 2022 NAIA National Tournament.

The Pilots will travel to Columbia, SC to play the NAIA 22^nd ranked Columbia International Rams who finished the 2022 season with an overall record of 35-7 and 19-1 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

The Rams are a perfect 13-0 on their home court and have won 15 games straight being lead by Kira Rymer who averages 3.9 kills per set.

The Rams have a couple strong Blockers with Lydia Gustafson and Jadaeya Morrell averaging 0.8 blocks per set.

Bethel is coming off a loss to NAIA 11^th ranked Taylor University in the Crossroads League Tournament Semi-Final who defeated the Pilots 3-1 in Upland, Ind.

Redshirt-Junior Isabelle North-Greene leads the Pilot attack with 2.5 kills per set with Cheyanne Seymour not far behind averaging 2.4 kills per set and Maddy Payne with 2.2 kills per set.

Junior Jackelin Fernandez averages 3.5 digs per set and is accompanied by senior Rachel Vendl with 2.5 digs per set.

The Opening Round match is set for Saturday, Nov. 19 with a time to be determined.
 
TOURNAMENT VITALS

• NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Opening Round Site: Moore Fitness Center | Columbia, SC Live Video
• NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Final Site: Tyson Events Center | Sioux City, Iowa
• Opening Round Schedule: Schedule
• Live Results: Stats | Final Site: Video

 
PILOTS IN THE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

• The Pilots are making their fourth appearance at the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship and their third consecutive trip.
• The Pilots own an NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship record of 3-5. The Pilots concluded their season in the Opening Round a year ago with a 3-0 defeat at No. 22 Dordt (Iowa).

 
THE BRACKET BREAKDOWN

• The bracket consists of 24, two-team Opening Round sites. The 24 winners of those Opening Round matchups will advance to the final site in Sioux City.
• The field consists of 36 automatic berths and 12 at-large selections. The automatic berths are determined by regular-season champions or runners-up, conference tournament title winners or runners-up, or by conference selection. The remaining at-large bids were determined by the final regular-season Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced last Wednesday.

For the latest information on each of Bethel University's 31 intercollegiate athletic teams, visit BUPilots.com or follow the Pilots on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @BUPilots or on YouTube at /BethelSportsNetwork.