South Padre Island Tournament Features Four Teams Ranked in NAIA Top 25
Posted August 21, 2008
The 2008 South Padre Island Volleyball Challenge, which will feature the highest-quality volleyball Brownsville has ever seen, begins Friday, August 22, at Rivera High School.

The tournament was moved to Rivera High from the South Padre Island Convention Centre after Hurricane Dolly caused significant damage to the Convention Centre.

The tournament was scheduled to be held at the South Padre Island Convention Centre, but Hurricane Dolly caused extensive

Seven of the nine teams participating are coming from the Midwest, and four of the teams are ranked in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 released August 19. Eight of the nine teams had winning records in 2007, and two advanced to the NAIA National Women's Volleyball Championship.

Highlighting the field are:
  • Morningside College (Iowa), which was 33-4 in 2007 and is ranked #13 in the country
  • UTB/TSC, which was 36-9 in 2007 and finished fifth in the NAIA National Tournament, and is ranked #19
  • Dordt College (Iowa), which was 29-9 and is ranked #20 in the country
  • Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.), which was 23-22 last year and participated in the NAIA National Tournament, and is ranked #23

Nine matches are scheduled each day on two courts at Rivera. Friday's action begins at 9 a.m. and ends with the last match at 6 p.m., while Saturday's matches begin at 10 a.m. and conclude with the last match at 7 p.m.

The Scorpions will open their season with a match at 1:30 p.m. Friday against Doane College (Neb.), which was 16-13 in 2007. UTB/TSC then faces Region VI rival Oklahoma City University (34-10 in 2007). The Scorpions ended the Stars' season last year in the NAIA Region VI semifinals.

On Saturday, the Scorpions have two Top 25 showdowns. First, they meet Morningside College at 2:30 p.m., then end tournament play with a 7 p.m. match against Dordt College.

The Scorpions return starters Talita Milasauskas, Katie Japp and Jacque Touchet from last year's team. However, Milasauskas is still recovering from a shoulder injury from an automobile accident and will not participate in the tournament.

Admission will be free.

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