Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- The 2018 American Rivers Conference Volleyball tournament begins tonight, October 30 with two first-round matches. No.3 Coe will host No.6 Buena Vista and No.5 Loras will travel to No. 4 Luther. The tournament's top-seed, Wartburg and second-seeded Luther have first-round byes. 

The six team field is vying for the league's automatic berth to this year's NCAA Division III Championships. Regional play of the NCAA Division III Tournament takes place 11/08/2018 - 11/11/2018 at eight, to be determined, campus sites. The tournament finals will take place 11/15/2018 - 11/17/2018 at the A.J. Palumbo Center (Pittsburgh, PA), Hosted by Saint Vincent College and SportsPITTSBURGH.

No.3 Coe (19-10 overall, 5-3 A-R-C) will host No.6 Buena Vista (13-11 overall, 4-4 A-R-C) in a 7:00 p.m. contest. During regular season play Buena Vista defeated the Kohawks 3-0 (26-24,25-20,14-25,25-22). In the league match-up, Kylie Roe led the Beavers in kills with 18, followed by Sydney McLaren with 17. McLaren finished with a team-high 16 digs, while Roe recorded 14. Offensively for Coe, Morgan Kluesner and Darby Hawtrey led the way with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Lindsey Koch paced the Kohawks defense with 24 digs. 

No.5 Loras (19-9 overall, 4-4 A-R-C) will travel to No.4 Luther (14-16 overall, 5-3 A-R-C) for a 7:00 p.m. match-up. In the regular season contest between the two teams, Luther defeated Loras 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 19-25, 15-9). Anna Larson and Karissa Kime led the Norse in Kills with 13 each during the regular season match-up. Luther's Natalie Cote was the team's leader in digs with 22 and Sam Sixta paced the Spartans with 31 assists. For the Duhawks, Jenna LaCorte had a team-high 23 kills. With 25 digs Krystal Tranel led the team, as did Paige Griffith's 56 assists. 

Thursday, November 1 serves as the date for this year's semifinal round. No.1-seeded Wartburg (17-11 overall, 7-1 A-R-C) awaits the winner of No.4 Luther and No.5 Loras. Second-seed Dubuque (22-8 overall, 6-2 A-R-C) will host the winner of No.3 Coe and No.6 Buena Vista. 

The championship match-up will be held at the home venue of the higher seeded team on Saturday, November 3rd. The winner of the 2018 Conference Tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 

---