�ؾ���

New Orleans LA ��— �ؾ���, led by four starters hitting a combined .480, finally blew up the door that leads to the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Final Site with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-13 first-round victory Saturday against William Carey at the Convocation Center.

�������� After eight consecutive first-round losses from 2011-18, these Gold Nuggets (31-6) will advance to Sioux City, Iowa, for pool play with 31 other qualifiers the week after Thanksgiving. Next match for �ؾ��� will be Dec. 3 — visit for details.

�������� �ؾ��� is the first HBCU volleyball program to win a match at NAIA nationals since Saint Augustine's in 1981.

�������� "We knew William Carey would bring their best game at us," third-year �ؾ��� coach����said. "But we brought ours, too. We were grateful for this opportunity."

�������� The Gold Nuggets, unbeaten in four previous meetings against William Carey during Kendrick's tenure, delivered as the favorite.����hit a season-best .550 with 13 kills, three aces, two blocks and six digs.��, the two-time Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player and Attacker of the Year, hit .393 with 12 kills, two aces, three blocks and eight digs.��, still rolling after winning GCAC Tournament MVP the previous weekend, hit .500 with nine kills and a block. And��, one of two freshman starters, hit .500 with five kills and a career-high-tying eight blocks — and the most blocks ever by a Gold Nugget in an NAIA tournament match.

�������� Causevic, Black, Price-Spraggins and Smith combined for 39 kills in 75 attacks with only three errors. �ؾ���, which hit a combined .111 in its previous eight opening-round appearances, hit .385 against William Carey.

�������� �ؾ��� limited William Carey to .162 hitting and had advantages of 48-35 in kills, 48-34 in assists, 8-3 in aces, 63-52 in digs and 10-2 in blocks.

������������(27 assists) and����(15) again shared the setting.����had 25 digs — nine in each of the first two sets — and����has six kills and two blocks.

�������� Jordan Stephens hit .344 with 13 kills for William Carey (20-20), a fourth-year program making its first appearance at natonals.

�������� �ؾ��� never trailed in the first set. William Carey led 7-5 in the second set, then two Dowd kills and a Causevic ace sparked a 5-0 run that put the Gold Nuggets ahead to stay. �ؾ��� raced to a 16-4 third-set lead, and Smith's block of Baylee Fairbanks ended the 69-minute match.

�������� "We served well," Kendrick said. "And our blocking defense was very solid. Those two areas fed off of each other. Now we'll see what we can do in Iowa."