The Malone University volleyball team will travel to Mount Vernon Nazarene University this weekend to take part in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) East Region Tournament.  The Pioneers, currently 21-9 overall and ranked third in the most recent NCCAA National ratings, will compete as the No. 1 seed in the six-team regional event.  The champion of the NCCAA East Region Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCCAA National Tournament which is slated to be held December 1-3 in Kissimmee, Florida.

In addition to Malone, the tournament field also consists of No. 2 seed Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College (16-10 overall), No. 3 seed Geneva (PA) College (21-7 overall), No. 4 seed Mount Vernon Nazarene University (11-19 overall), No. 5 seed Nyack (NY) College (11-13 overall) and No. 6 seed Houghton (NY) College (6-17 overall).

The teams will take part in pool play matches on Friday.  Based on their pool-play performance, the squads will then be re-seeded in a single-elimination bracket on Saturday.  Pool A includes Malone, MVNU and Nyack.  Pool B is made up of Roberts Wesleyan, Geneva and Houghton.

The Pioneers are slated to open the event on Friday with a 3:00 p.m. contest against Nyack before taking on the host Cougars at 7:00 p.m.

On Saturday, the bracket will be played as follows:
10:00 a.m.      Quarterfinals    A2 v B3
                                                     B2 v A3
12:00 p.m.      Semifinals        B1 v winner of A2/B3
                                                     A1 v winner of B2/A3
TBA                  Finals     

Malone won its only NCCAA East Region Title in 2000.  The Pioneers have appeared in the NCCAA National Tournament six times.  Their most recent NCCAA National Tournament appearance occurred in 2009 when they received an at-large bid and advanced to the semifinal round before falling to national runner-up Mount Vernon Nazarene.