After winning the NCCAA National Invitational in their first-ever appearance last season, the OUAZ men's volleyball team returns to Palos Heights, Ill., this weekend looking to defend its crown. The two-day tournament features three pool play matches with one crossover match to determine the final results with all matches being played on Friday, January 24, and Saturday, January 25.
 
OUAZ – the tournament's No. 1 seed – opens its title defense against No. 8 seed Maranatha Baptist on Friday at 3 p.m. (AZ) before facing fifth-seeded Trinity Christian on Friday at 7 p.m. (AZ). The Spirit close pool play on Saturday at 10 a.m. (AZ) against fourth-seeded Warner. The two pool winners will meet in the championship match at 2 p.m. (AZ) on Saturday.
 
Trinity Christian is the host of the tournament with all 16 matches being held on their campus between both DeVos Court and Mitchell Court.
 
All of the tournament matches will be streamed live on the NCCAA Network with a tournament pass or per match pass available. Live stats will also be available for all matches. Along with being available on the web, the NCCAA Network can also be found on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices. Links for live features during OUAZ matches can be found at OUAZSpirit.com/live.
 
The Spirit head to the Illinois cold with a 2-0 record this season after defeating two in-state opponents last week. Their season began with a four-set win at Park Gilbert before opening Golden State Athletic Conference action with a road sweep over Arizona Christian.
 
OUAZ is currently averaging 11.57 kills per set to rank 10th in the NAIA and they are sixth nationally with their .307 hitting efficiency. Through two matches, the Spirit rank third in the nation at 2.57 service aces per set after posting 18 aces – including 11 at Park Gilbert – in their first two matches.
 
In those two wins, the Spirit held the opposition to just 8.14 kills per set and .097 hitting. They slowed limited ACU to only 17 kills and negative-.081 hitting in the sweep. OUAZ averages 8.00 digs per set – 24th in the NAIA – to go with 2.21 blocks per set which ranks eighth.
 
Quaid King began his freshman campaign with a pair of double-digit kills matches and he leads the Spirit with 25 kills. His 3.57 kills per set is good for 12th in the NAIA and King is 21st nationally by hitting .420.
 
James Yahner added 19 kills during the season's opening week with Blake Music adding 14 on .667 hitting to sit third in the NAIA.
 
Ian Fields ran the offense to a total of 9.71 assists per set where he currently is ninth in the NAIA.
 
Conner Duyck is 10th in the NAIA at 0.71 aces per set and 11th with 1.14 blocks per set. Joaquin Santa Cruz leads the Spirit – and ranks seventh nationally – at 3.14 digs per set.
 
OUAZ has never faced any of the three teams in their pool at the NCCAA event. The other pool features three teams the Spirit defeated at last year's tournament in Grenville, Judson, and championship match opponent Campbellsville. The Spirit are 2-0 all-time against Judson and Campbellsville and 1-0 against Greenville.