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