NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, traveling next week for the first time to the final site of the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship presented by Delta Hotels in Sioux City, Iowa, was assigned Sunday to Pool H — one of eight four-team groups — with eighth-ranked Jamestown, ninth-ranked Columbia (Mo.) and Westmont.
     The Gold Nuggets will play all their matches at Tyson Events Center. The schedule (all times Central Standard):
     •  Tuesday, Dec. 3:  Jamestown, 1 p.m., court 3 . . . live audio internet broadcast on KQDJ Radio
     •  Wednesday, Dec. 4:  Columbia, 4 p.m., court 1
     •  Thursday, Dec. 5:  Westmont, 2 p.m., court 2
     The top two teams from each pool will advance to single-elimination matches: round of 16 and quarterfinals Dec. 6, semifinals (11 a.m.) and final (7 p.m.) Dec. 7.
     After eight consecutive opening-round defeats from 2011-18, XULA advanced to the final site for the first time by winning 25-18, 25-20, 25-13 at home Saturday against William Carey. That made XULA the first HBCU volleyball program to win a match at NAIA nationals since Saint Augustine's in 1981.
     About the Pool H teams:
     •  Jamestown Jimmies (29-4):  School is in Jamestown, N.D., 327 miles northwest of Minneapolis . . . Qualifier for nationals for the seventh time, all in the last 10 years, and the fourth consecutive season . . . Eight victories against teams at the final site: two apiece against Concordia (Neb.), Morningside and Saint Mary (Neb.) and one apiece against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Southern Oregon . . . Defeated Saint Mary 25-19, 25-20, 25-20 to win its first Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament title . . . Second place in GPAC regular season . . . Britta Knudson and Isabel Wedell are first-team All-GPAC . . . Statistical leaders: Knudson with 287 kills, 156 blocks and a .352 hitting percentage, Miranda Lowman with 637 assists and 34 aces and Sydney Ellingston with 553 digs . . . Knudson ranks third in the NAIA in blocks . . . Jon Hegerle is 266-109 in his 11th season as head coach.
     •  Columbia Cougars (27-5):  School is in Columbia, Mo., approximately halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City . . . Four-time national champion (1998, 1999, 2001 and 2015) and six-time runner-up (2000, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2018) . . . Also has three third-place finishes . . . Has an NAIA-record 26 appearances at nationals — they're consecutive appearances; the streak started in 1994 . . . Victories this season against final-site participants Ottawa (Kan.) and Lindsey Wilson . . . Senior setter/hitter Kiersten Anderson was named American Midwest Conference Co-Player of the Year, and Luisa Ferreira was named AMC Freshman of the Year and Setter of the Year . . . Statistical leaders: Anderson with 378 kills, 60 aces, 70 blocks and a .312 hitting percentage, Ferreira with 1,263 assists and Ellie Rockers with 279 digs . . . Anderson had 11 kills, three aces and 18 digs in the 2018 national final, a five-set loss to Park in which the Cougars led two sets to one . . . Ferreira ranks third in the NAIA in assists per set . . . Allison Jones-Olson is in her first season as head coach and is 479-389 overall in 26 seasons, including stints at Central Methodist, William Jewell, Westminster (Mo.) and Washburn.
     •  Westmont Warriors (26-6):  School is in Santa Barbara, Calif., 95 miles up the Pacific coast from Los Angeles . . . Led the list of the "others receiving votes" in the most recent coaches poll Nov. 17 . . . Two victories against teams at the final site: Grand View and Morningside . . . 13th appearance and fourth in a row at nationals . . . Fifth appearance in eight years . . . . . . Two third-place national finishes (1993, 1999) . . . Shared Golden State Athletic Conference regular-season championship with Menlo, then beat Menlo 25-19, 25-12, 25-14 in the GSAC Tournament final . . . Brooklynn Cheney, Keelyn Kistner and Cassidy Rea were All-GSAC — Rea for the third consecutive season . . . Statistical leaders: Rea with 404 kills and a .321 hitting percentage, Kistner with 727 assists and 46 aces, Lauren Friis with 581 digs and Lexi Malone with 118 blocks . . . Ruth McGolpin is in her first season as head coach after serving as an assistant from 2015-18.
     •  XULA Gold Nuggets (31-6):  School is in New Orleans and about 4.5 miles as the crow flies from the historic French Quarter . . . Won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships, both for the ninth straight season . . . First GCAC team to advance to the NAIA final site since former member Mobile in 2008 and 2009 . . . XULA set school season records for victories and with 293 aces . . . Statistical leaders: Kayla Black with 435 kills (school season record), Vivica Price-Spraggins with 104 blocks and a .338 hitting percentage, Eva Le Guillou with 1,017 assists, Ema Causevic with 55 aces and Jennifer Torres with 446 digs . . . Black won the last two Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Attacker of the Year awards, Le Guillou has been voted GCAC Setter of the Year three straight times, and Causevic is the 2019 GCAC Newcomer of the Year . . . Pat Kendrick is 80-15 in her third season as head coach and is 547-454 in 33 seasons overall; she led NCAA Division I George Mason from 1985-2014.