OKLAHOMA CITY – Southwestern Assemblies of God captured the Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball tournament championship for the first time with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 victory over Wayland Baptist on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. 

The Lady Lions (26-8) only lost one set throughout the tournament. With this championship win, Southwestern Assemblies of God clinched the program's first spot in the NAIA Championships ever. 
  
"Our kids played an outstanding match today," SAGU coach Hank Moore said. "Our offense stayed fast throughout the match. Our defense was incredible. All of our kids played very hard. This was a huge win for our program. I'm very proud of the entire team. Our first conference tournament championship and our first automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament." 
  
Alexis Mealer led the Lady Lions once again with 19 kills hitting .255 throughout the match. Riley Burcham had a championship performance as she accounted for 36 assists and 14 digs. Abby Wells added 12 kills. Tessa Glick led the SAGU backcourt with 17 digs. 
  
Mealer was named the SAC Tournament most valuable player, and Burcham was also named to the all-tournament team. Mealer ended the tournament totaling 53 kills and averaging 5.30 kills per set. She hit .293 over the three games played. Burcham put together a brilliant performance over the three games played in the tournament as she totaled 112 assists, averaging 11.20 assist per set. She also led all players in service aces with five and added 40 digs. 

Tatijana Markic and Paxton Patterson produced a team-best 11 kills each for Wayland Baptist. Lucie Mahelova rang up 32 assists. Mahelova and Wendy Cobbah made the all-tournament team for the Pioneers (23-11).
  
The Lady Lions will now await to hear who their opponent will be at the 42nd NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Opening Round. The opening rounds are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20 at various NAIA schools across the country. The volleyball national championship includes a field of 48 teams. Forty-Eight teams will compete in 24 national championship opening round matches. Opening round winners will advance to the final site for a 24-team pool play tournament. One team from each pool advances to single-elimination championship play. The final championship site will be held at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux, Iowa.  

As a team, the Lady Lions ended the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament with a .240 hitting percentage and 140 kills while their opponents hit just .112. SAGU also totaled 196 digs, 17 aces, and 12 blocks throughout the tournament. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT 

Riley Burcham, SW Assemblies of God; Wendy Cobbah, Wayland Baptist; Lucie Mahelova, Wayland Baptist; Savanna Riney, John Brown; Veronika Webb, Texas Wesleyan. 

Most valuable player: Alexis Mealer, SW Assemblies of God.