CLEVELAND, Tenn. - TranSouth Athletic Conference champ Freed-Hardeman (23-13) fell 3-1 at Lee (Tenn.) (33-5) in the NAIA Volleyball National Tournament First Round.

The Flames volleyball team will advance to the final site of the NAIA National Tournament, but not before their opponent, Freed-Hardeman University, proved to be a worthy one.

 

The Lady Lions came out and took advantage of Lee's mistakes in the first set, and Lee found themselves trailing 1-0 after Freed claimed a 25-23 set victory.

The Lady Flames, however, bounced back, taking the next three sets 25-22, 35-21, and 25-22 to win the match 3-1 and advance to the pool play stage of the NAIA tournament, which will begin Dec. 1  in Sioux City, iowa. Christa Hutchison (14), Milica Krsmanovic (13), and Stephanie Todd (12) all recorded double digit kills for the Lady Flames, while Diana Silva (18), Nataly Guitierrez (12), and Sydney Rice (10) accomplished the feat for the Lady Lions.

 

The real turning point came in the pivotal third set, when the Lady Flames took control on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. In the set, Lee's hitters killed the ball at a .393 clip, while the defense held the Lady Lions to a .200 hitting percentage.

 

"We played well tonight in all facets of the game," Hudson stated, "but give Freed-Hardeman credit, they fought hard and pushed us to the limit in each set. That's the sign of a great team."

 

The Lady Flames now wait to find out where they will be seeded in the pool play portion of the 24 team tournament. Those seedings and schedule will be announced by 6 p.m. (CST) on Sunday Click Here.

The final 24 teams will be placed into six pools and will play a round robin pool play Dec. 1-3, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the single elimination bracket starting Dec. 4. The championship match will take place at 8 p.m. (CST) on Dec. 5.

JumpTV Inc. is the exclusive provider of live video and audio-streaming at the NAIA National Championship. JumpTV will stream the 2009 NAIA Men's and Women's Soccer and Volleyball National Championships. All of the action from Sioux City on Dec. 4 and 5 will be video-streamed live on JumpTV, a total of 11 matches. These events can be viewed by going to watchnaia.com or by clicking here.

For more information on the National Championship Opening Round, click here.
For more information on the National Championship, click here.
For complete conference tournament breakdown, click here.