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Four CCC Volleyball Teams Earn Spots In National Championships

Four CCC Volleyball Teams Earn Spots In National Championships

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EOU, SOU, C of I and CU Advance

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship qualifiers. The 36-team event will get underway with 12 National Championship Opening Round matches at campus locations on Nov. 22.

The pairings for the Opening Round matches will be released Monday at 12 p.m. (noon) CST via a live video presentation. To view the show on Monday, visit www.NAIANetwork.com.

National championship host Briar Cliff (Iowa) and the top 11 seeds automatically advance to the national championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The Tyson Events Center will welcome a 24-team field Dec. 2 – 6.

This year’s field includes 27 automatic qualifiers, nine at-large selections and one host berth (Briar Cliff). Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, regular season championship or finished runner-up at conference tournament. The at-large bids were determined by the final regular season NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released earlier today.

Ten of the 12 programs that advanced out of pool play at last year’s national championship return in 2014, highlighted by defending national champion Texas at Brownsville. The Ocelots, who enter the event ranked No. 5 in the latest Coaches’ Poll, qualified for the national championship after winning the Red River Athletic Conference tournament for the sixth-straight season. Texas at Brownsville has taken home two of the last three banners and is looking to become the first program to win back-to-back titles since former-member Fresno Pacific (Calif.) won four-straight from 2007 – 2010.

Park (Mo.) enters the national championship as the only unbeaten team remaining. The Pirates (34-0) won both the American Midwest Conference (AMC) regular season and tournament titles en route to an automatic berth. Park has lost only two sets throughout the entire season and swept the last eight contests heading into the event.

Perennial contender Columbia (Mo.) is the active leader in both championship appearances at 21 and playoff wins with an 81-40 record. Seven teams have appeared in the national championship 10-or-more times – Biola (Calif.) (14), College of Idaho (10), Concordia (Calif.) (10), Georgetown (Ky.) (17), Madonna (Mich.) (14), Northwestern (Iowa) (12) and Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (10).

Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament champion Coastal Georgia and Eastern Oregon, which claimed one of the nine at-large spots, are the only newcomers to the field this year. Last year, five newcomers participated in the event.

Olivet Nazarene is arguably the biggest surprise among the championship qualifiers. The Tigers were the No. 6 seed in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament and received one of the league’s two automatic berths after finishing runner-up to Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) in the event.

NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA’s official video-streaming home, will broadcast all 47 matches live at the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, will include live statistics, social media interaction and be available on mobile-friendly devices. Single-championship packages can be purchased for $20, while an all-season pass (up to 17 championships during the 2014-15 season) is available for $75. For more information and to pre-register, click here.

For more information on the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round and National Championship final site, click here.

2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Qualifiers
School Qualification Record^ Appearance% Last Time Champ Record Titles
Biola (Calif.) At-Large No. 1 28-4 14th 2013 51-23 0
Briar Cliff (Iowa) Host Berth 19-12 3rd 2013 1-5 0
Cal State San Marcos Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion 27-10 4th 2013 2-4 0
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion 28-17 2nd 2013 0-1 0
Coastal Georgia Southern States Athletic Tournament Champion 34-1 1st -- 0-0 0
College of Idaho Cascade Collegiate Tournament Champion 19-11 10th 2013 18-19 0
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) Midlands Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion 17-13 3rd 2009 1-3 0
Columbia (Mo.) At-Large No. 2 33-5 21st 2013 81-40 3
Concordia (Calif.) Golden State Athletic Regular Season Champion 31-2 10th 2013 39-10 1
Concordia (Ore.) At-Large No. 9 19-9 2nd 2000 3-2 0
Davenport (Mich.) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Tournament Champion 34-7 2nd 2012 0-1 0
Eastern Oregon At-Large No. 6 26-4 1st -- 0-0 0
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) The Sun Tournament Champion 21-9 5th 2013 8-9 0
Evangel (Mo.) Heart of America Athletic Tournament Champion 25-11 2nd 2009 0-1 0
Georgetown (Ky.) Mid-South Tournament Champion 28-10 17th 2013 33-41 0
Grand View (Iowa) At-Large No. 4 26-13 4th 2013 6-5 0
Indiana Wesleyan Crossroads League Tournament Champion 32-7 5th 2013 5-7 0
Jamestown (N.D.) North Star Athletic Tournament Champion 24-6 3rd 2012 0-2 0
Kansas Wesleyan Kansas Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion 28-9 2nd 2011 1-3 0
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) At-Large No. 5 32-3 4th 2013 2-6 0
Madonna (Mich.) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Tournament Runner-Up 36-7 14th 2013 30-27 0
Menlo (Calif.) California Pacific Tournament Champion 17-10 5th 2013 0-4 0
Midland (Neb.) At-Large No. 3 24-8 2nd 2013 3-2 0
Missouri Baptist American Midwest Tournament Runner-Up 34-3 6th 2012 7-11 0
Northwestern (Iowa) Great Plains Athletic Tournament Champion 31-3 12th 2013 21-24 0
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Runner-Up 17-24 10th 2011 7-24 0
Park (Mo.) American Midwest Tournament Champion 34-0 2nd 2013 2-2 0
Point Park (Pa.) Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Tournament Champion 25-15 2nd 2011 0-1 0
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) Frontier Tournament Champion 29-2 4th 2013 6-6 0
Southern Oregon At-Large No. 7 22-5 8th 2011 16-19 0
Texas at Brownsville Red River Athletic Tournament Champion 28-4 7th 2013 26-6 2
Union (Ky.) Appalachian Athletic Tournament Champion 30-9 3rd 2010 0-2 0
Vanguard (Calif.) At-Large No. 8 22-11 6th 2013 5-11 0
Viterbo (Wis.) Midwest Collegiate Tournament Champion 35-7 2nd 2012 5-1 0
Wayland Baptist (Texas) Sooner Athletic Tournament Champion 23-9 2nd 2013 6-1 0
Xavier (La.) Gulf Coast Athletic Tournament Champion 20-5 4th 2013 0-3 0

^ Record from DakStats as 8 a.m. CST on Nov. 16
% Includes 2014 appearance

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