UCM To Face EOU in Opening Round
The NAIA has announced the qualifying teams and opening round matchups for the 2024 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship presented by Marriott South Sioux City Riverfront and Explore Siouxland. The 48-team event will begin with 24 championship opening round matches at campus locations this Saturday, Nov. 23. UC Merced, the California Pacific Conference regular season and postseason tournament champion will go on the road to La Grande, Ore., to face Eastern Oregon. The Bobcats (20-7) won their first Cal Pac tourney title since 2020 and, as a result, advanced to the NAIA National Championship for the second time in program history. UCM recorded the first 20-win season in program history and extended its current win streak to 11, also the best in program history. The Mountaineers (28-4) are the regular season champion of the Cascade Conference, which qualified six teams for the national tournament, the most of any conference in the country.
After opening rounds, the action at the final site will take place inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, and will start with three days of pool play from December 4-6. At the conclusion of pool play, the top team in each three-team pool will advance to the elimination bracket, starting with the quarterfinals, on Saturday, December 7. The semifinals will be played on Monday, December 9 and the national champion will be crowned Tuesday, December 10.
This year's championship field includes 34 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, regular-season championship, or finished runner-up at the conference tournament as determined by each conference qualification plan. The at-large bids were determined by the NAIA Women's Volleyball Selection Committee. The selection committee consists of coaches and administrators from around the country.
All championship opening round matches will be video streamed by the host.
Qualifier Highlights
- All qualifying teams will participate in the opening round before advancing to the final site.
- Columbia (Mo.) holds the all-time appearances record with 30 total appearances. The Cougars also have the most wins at the tournament with 103 wins. CC also boasts the highest number of titles in this year's tournament field, with four.
- Northwestern (Iowa) is the only team with 20 appearances.
- Fourteen teams have 10-19 appearances in the tournament: Bellevue (Neb.), Missouri Baptist, Texas Wesleyan, College of Idaho, Southern Oregon, Indiana Wesleyan, Jamestown (N.D.), Viterbo (Wis.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Eastern Oregon, IU Kokomo (Ind.), Midland (Neb.), Morningside (Iowa) and Mobile (Ala.).
- There are no first-year teams that qualified for the 2024 tournament field.
- There are five other teams that have won at least one title besides Columbia (Mo.): Missouri Baptist, Indiana Wesleyan, Jamestown (N.D.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Marian (Ind.).
- There are 33 teams that also qualified for the 2023 championship.
- There are two teams that remain undefeated in the tournament field: Northwestern (Iowa) and St. Thomas (Fla.).
- Grace (Ind.) closed a 23-year gap as they re-entered the tournament field for the first time since 2001.
- The Cascade Collegiate Athletic Conference leads the way with six qualifiers from the conference.
Opening Round Matchups
*sort alphabetically by visitor
|
VISITING |
|
HOME |
|
Benedictine (Kan.) |
at |
The Master's (Calif.) |
|
Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) |
at |
College of Idaho |
|
Bushnell (Ore.) |
at |
Montana Tech |
|
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
at |
Nelson (Texas) |
|
CIU (S.C.) |
at |
Marian (Ind.) |
|
Columbia (Mo.) |
at |
McPherson (Kan.) |
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
at |
Providence (Mont.) |
|
Dakota State (S.D.) |
at |
Midland (Neb.) |
|
Dillard (La.) |
at |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
|
Florida College |
at |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
|
Indiana Tech |
at |
IU Kokomo (Ind.) |
|
IU East (Ind.) |
at |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
at |
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
|
Missouri Baptist |
at |
Grace (Ind.) |
|
Mobile (Ala.) |
at |
Corban (Ore.) |
|
Morningside (Iowa) |
at |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
|
Oregon Tech |
at |
Montana Western |
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
at |
Concordia (Neb.) |
|
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
at |
Southern Oregon |
|
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
at |
Aquinas (Mich.) |
|
Talladega (Ala.) |
at |
Indiana Wesleyan |
|
Texas Wesleyan |
at |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
|
UC Merced |
at |
Eastern Oregon |
|
William Carey (Miss.) |
at |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
QUALIFIERS LIST
|
INSTITUTION |
QUALIFICATION |
SEASON RECORD |
LAST QUALIFIED |
APPEARANCES |
TITLES |
|
Aquinas (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion |
39-1 |
2023 |
4 |
0 |
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
North Star Athletic Association Tournament Champion |
28-3 |
2023 |
17 |
0 |
|
Benedictine (Kan.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champions |
25-7 |
2023 |
2 |
0 |
|
Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) |
At-Large |
21-7 |
2023 |
4 |
0 |
|
Bushnell (Ore.) |
At-Large |
19-12 |
2021 |
3 |
0 |
|
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion |
26-7 |
2023 |
7 |
0 |
|
CIU (S.C.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion |
32-2 |
2023 |
4 |
0 |
|
College of Idaho |
At-Large |
20-13 |
2023 |
15 |
0 |
|
Columbia (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
23-12 |
2023 |
30 |
4 |
|
Concordia (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
24-3 |
2023 |
7 |
0 |
|
Corban (Ore.) |
At-Large |
23-5 |
2023 |
9 |
0 |
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
At-Large |
32-5 |
2023 |
2 |
0 |
|
Dakota State (S.D.) |
At-Large |
18-12 |
2021 |
3 |
0 |
|
Dillard (La.) |
HBCU Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
20-8 |
2010 |
2 |
0 |
|
Eastern Oregon |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Regular Season Champion |
28-4 |
2023 |
11 |
0 |
|
Florida College |
Continental Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
21-8 |
2022 |
3 |
0 |
|
Grace (Ind.) |
At-Large |
20-10 |
2001 |
2 |
0 |
|
Indiana Tech |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
27-10 |
2023 |
7 |
0 |
|
Indiana Wesleyan |
Crossroads League Regular Season and Tournament Champion |
31-2 |
2023 |
13 |
1 |
|
IU East (Ind.) |
River States Conference Tournament Champion |
27-9 |
2023 |
9 |
0 |
|
IU Kokomo (Ind.) |
River States Conference Regular Season Champion |
31-5 |
2023 |
11 |
0 |
|
Jamestown (N.D.) |
At-Large |
22-2 |
2023 |
12 |
1 |
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion |
27-8 |
2021 |
12 |
1 |
|
Marian (Ind.) |
Crossroads League Tournament Runner-Up |
23-8 |
2023 |
8 |
1 |
|
McPherson (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
28-6 |
2021 |
4 |
0 |
|
Midland (Neb.) |
At-Large |
17-11 |
2023 |
11 |
0 |
|
Missouri Baptist |
American Midwest Conference Regular Season and Tournamnet Champion |
25-11 |
2023 |
16 |
2 |
|
Mobile (Ala.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion |
31-4 |
2023 |
10 |
0 |
|
Montana Tech |
At-Large |
19-10 |
2023 |
9 |
0 |
|
Montana Western |
At-Large |
22-9 |
2023 |
2 |
0 |
|
Morningside (Iowa) |
At-Large |
22-10 |
2023 |
10 |
0 |
|
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
At-Large |
29-4 |
2023 |
5 |
0 |
|
Nelson (Texas) |
Sooner Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion |
29-5 |
2023 |
4 |
0 |
|
Northwestern (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion |
30-0 |
2023 |
20 |
0 |
|
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Champion |
30-2 |
2023 |
2 |
0 |
|
Oregon Tech |
At-Large |
19-13 |
2021 |
2 |
0 |
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
23-8 |
2020 |
5 |
0 |
|
Providence (Mont.) |
Frontier Conference Tournament Champion |
25-6 |
2021 |
5 |
0 |
|
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
25-7 |
2020 |
5 |
0 |
|
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
19-11 |
2022 |
8 |
0 |
|
Southern Oregon |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
28-3 |
2023 |
14 |
0 |
|
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
The Sun Conference Tournament Champions |
30-0 |
2023 |
7 |
0 |
|
Talladega (Ala.) |
HBCU Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
25-9 |
2023 |
2 |
0 |
|
Texas Wesleyan |
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
25-8 |
2023 |
16 |
0 |
|
The Master's (Calif.) |
Great Southwest Athletic Conference Tournament Champions |
20-6 |
2020 |
5 |
0 |
|
UC Merced |
California Pacific Conference Tournament Champion |
20-7 |
2020 |
2 |
0 |
|
Viterbo (Wis.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion |
25-9 |
2023 |
12 |
0 |
|
William Carey (Miss.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
28-9 |
2019 |
2 |
0 |
NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, Nov. 23
Opening Round
UC Merced at Eastern Oregon
At Tyson Events Center | Sioux City, Iowa
Dec. 4-6
Pool Play
Dec. 7-9
Bracket Play
Dec. 10
NAIA Championship