KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The 2021 NCCAA DII National Tournament begins Thursday morning, and the Sabercats are eyeing an unexpected route to the national title that includes their North Region rivals, Faith Baptist, and their nemesis at the national stage: Bob Jones University.

Maranatha has lost to the Bruins three years straight at the National Tournament - twice with the national title on the line. Handing Bob Jones a defeat to open the tournament would be a shot in the arm, a statement at the national stage, and a major step in advancing out of pool play and into the national semifinal.

The Sabercats have been given the #8 seed, which may come as a surprise on its face, but the team knew the rules going in to the season - the seedings are determined based on the NCCAA power rating system, and the Sabercats didn't perform to their standard - especially during an injury-plagued start to the season. Maranatha opened with eight consecutive losses - their worst in over 20 years.

CAPTAIN'S CORNER 

"We had a rough start, and that killed our power ratings," said senior captain, Mattie Bumpus. "We had half our starters on the bench, injured, and we won a lot of games in five sets, which hurts us even more - Coach [DeLozier] prepared us for a low rating going in.

"You have to play your best to beat the best - that's Nationals. We'd rather play [Bob Jones] first - in my four years we've come short every time, and so playing them first lets us use the energy and momentum of everything we've been working on and just give it to them right away. We're 'Maranatha' - we haven't won [Nationals] in four years, but we're still a team to beat.

"My goal is to make it out of pool play, and if we can play like we did at Regionals, I think we have a good shot. But we have to be unified, we have to play our best, and we have to apply everything we've been working on in these last few weeks."

The tournament will be held in Kissimmee, Florida Thursday through Saturday, with the schedule as follows (all times Eastern):

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LINKS

SCHEDULE :: LIVE VIDEO ($) :: TOURNAMENT INFO 

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FIELD

Here is an overview of the field:

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A CLOSER LOOK AT POOL A

#1 Bob Jones - The Bruins hold the second-highest power rating in the field - just .014 points shy of the #2 seed, Manhattan Christian. Bob Jones fell to the #6-seeded Pensacola Christian College Eagles in the South Region Championship, but their 27-6 record coming into the tournament shows their quality. BJU is the top-ranked team in kills per set, averaging 11.57, and they are the best team on the serve (attack and defense) at this year's tournament.

The Bruins hold the last three NCCAA DII National Titles, and with Dr. Vickie Denny at the helm of the program, the Bruins are widely considered as the favorite for this year's tournament.

#4 Johnson - The Royals were the last team to qualify for the tournament, and they earn the #4 seed after they brushed off Boyce College on Saturday to win the Mideast Region Championship. The Royals had to withdraw from last year's tournament due to COVID policies, so the group of student-athletes traveling to this year's tournament will have the extra motivation of finally competing for a national title.

The regional title was the Royals' first since 2018, but they qualified for the tournament as an at-large selection in 2019 and 2020.

#5 Faith - The Eagles are the other North Region representative at this year's tournament, as the Eagles head to the national stage for the first time since 2003. Faith goes into the tournament with a 17-9 record, which includes a 13-9 record in NCCAA play.

The Eagles boast one of the tightest defenses in the NCCAA DII, as they hold the best opponent hitting percentage and the third-best mark in digs per set. Faith clashed with the Sabercats in the North Region Championship, losing 3-1 in the title match.

#8 Maranatha - The Sabercats took three consecutive national titles from 2015-17, but Bob Jones has denied any further success for the Blue and Gold. As a team that has qualified for five of the last six NCCAA National Championship matches, the Sabercats have a target on their back as big as anyone else in the field.

Maranatha had to overcome the slowest start in recent program history, taking eight losses to begin the season. Since then, the Sabercats have returned some injured starters and have regained momentum, as they enter the tournament with eight wins in their last 13 matches. 

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The stage is set, and the action starts Thursday. Visit mbusabercats.com/schedule for up-to-date information on the tournament all weekend long.