KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has released the pool assignments and schedule for the 2019 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship presented by Delta Hotels in Sioux City, Iowa. | BRACKET / SCHEDULE

Central Methodist was one of 19 teams that received an opening round bye, along with host Morningside (Iowa). They will be joined at the final site by the 12 opening round winners to form the 32-team field.

The Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa, will serve as the venue for the 12th-straight year, with tournament play at the final site taking place from December 3-7. Teams are divided into eight pools of four, with the top two teams out of each pool advancing to the single-elimination bracket starting on Dec. 6.

The No. 12 Eagles will open play at the final site in Pool E with No. 5 Southern Oregon, Bellevue (Neb.), and IU Kokomo (Ind.). As a team, Central currently boasts an overall record of 30-0 while ranking 2^nd nationally in assists per set (13.72), 2^nd in kills per set (14.7), and 3^rd in hitting percentage (.266).

Central will kick off pool play by facing Bellevue (28-7) at 9 AM on December 3^rd before squaring off against IU Kokomo (27-11) at 12 PM on December 4^th and wrapping up the pool play with a match against Southern Oregon (28-4) at 12 PM on December 5^th.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

The Eagles earned an automatic berth to the tournament and a bye past the first round after defeating Grand View in the postseason conference tournament and securing a program-high No. 12 ranking in the latest poll. They will appear for the second consecutive year and the second time in program history.

Bellevue, a North Star Athletic Association Member, earned an at-large bid to mark the program's 12^th showing at the national level and 8^th final site appearance. The Bruins tied for second place at 10-4 in the North Star Athletic Association behind sixth-ranked Viterbo (Wisc.) and had to defeat Lincoln (Ill.) in the Opening Round to advance to pool play for the eighth time in team history.

IU Kokomo earned an automatic berth as the River States Conference Tournament Champion and will be making its second appearance in pool play – the first was in 2016, and the Cougars were knocked out in the Opening Round last season – after winning a four-set match at Trinity Christian (Ill.) on Saturday in the Opening Round. They went 13-3 to tie for second place in the River States Conference's West Division, but won the conference tournament and are riding a six-match winning streak.

Southern Oregon qualified with an automatic berth after winning the regular season and postseason tournament in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Raiders, who will be making their 11th national tournament appearance and 10th at the final site, were a No. 2 seed last year when they got out of pool play and advanced to their first-ever national quarterfinal match.

POOL E SCHEDULE