BILLINGS, Mont. - Grinding out a tough road victory, the Northwest Nazarene University volleyball team locked up their first invitation to the NCAA Division II national volleyball tournament on Saturday night with a 20-30, 31-29, 30-26, 30-18 win at Montana State University Billings.

NNU, ranked sixth in Wednesday's final Pacific Regional poll, will wait until Monday morning at 9 a.m. EST (7 a.m. MST) to hear their named called during the NCAA national tournament webcast that will announce the 64 teams invited to the tournament. The webcast wil be aired at NCAAsports.com.

The top eight teams in the Pacific Region will advance to the field of 64, with the No.1 team in the region serving as the host. With the road sweep this weekend the Crusaders are virtually assured a spot in the field. Cal State San Bernardino will likely serve as the host institution.

"It was a good bookend for our season to start against MSU Billings (9-6-07) with a win in four in Nampa and then end the conference season with a win at Billings in four," commented NNU head coach Jared Sliger. "The hallmark of good teams is that when they are not playing well, they can find a way to win...tonight we did that."

Cammy Dranginis and Lindsay Forseth led the Crusaders with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, with Dranginis adding six blocks and Forseth also hustling for 10 digs. Kristy Wigren led the NNU defense with 18 digs and Allison James had 31 assists. NNU hit just .142 for the match, but rallied to hit .500 in the fourth game to secure the win.

The Crusaders, who finished the regular season 18-8 overall and 12-6 in conference play, out blocked the 'Jackets 14 to 9.

Devon Crotteau and Alicia Cazemier each had 16 kills to lead MSU Billings, who completed the season at 18-10 overall and 10-8 in GNAC action. Crotteau also had 19 digs to lead all defensive players.