SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Despite the result of their pool play tiebreakers, the No. 7-ranked Corban University Volleyball team has nothing to hang their heads about tonight as their 2023 season came to an end at the NAIA National Championships, as the Warriors handily defeated the No. 9-ranked University of Jamestown in a four-set national championship rematch to force the tiebreaker sets in what would end up being an extremely long night for head coach Kim McLain and her program. The Navy and Gold nearly swept the Jimmies in a 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, and 25-14 affair.
In the tiebreaker scenario, Jamestown earned the first set bye, which saw the Warriors in a one-set rematch with No. 22-ranked St. Thomas University, where Corban's momentum from their four-set victory over the Jimmies led to a 25-19 final score to set up one final set with Jamestown, where the winner would advance to the NAIA quarterfinals. It turns out, there's a reason why volleyball matches are played best of five sets, as the sixth set of the night for the Warriors was just one too many and despite their best efforts, lost the final tiebreaker set 26-28 to the Jimmies and thus ended their season a couple points away from bracket play.
"I can't say enough about this team, they are some of the hardest fighters I've ever had the pleasure of coaching," Coach McLain shared after the final tiebreaker result. "Nobody else at this tournament could win a four-set match and then play not one, but two tiebreakers shortly after and compete at the level of intensity that these girls did tonight. The high character and integrity these girls played with tonight is what makes me so proud to coach them. They left their hearts out on the court tonight, and that's all I could ever ask for."
The 2022 NAIA national championship rematch was the game circled on the calendar over the last two weeks for Coach McLain and her program, as the sour taste left in their mouth after falling to the Jimmies in a five-set heartbreaker to end that incredible postseason run fueled them to perform to the high degree they did this evening in Sioux City. The Warriors (28-7) by far played their best ball of the season and won four of the six sets played tonight, including the first three of four against Jamestown in their dominant rematch.
A back-and-forth first and second pair of sets were both clutched out by the Navy and Gold thanks to late runs to established at the net and on the service line, as the Warriors posted five aces and nine blocks throughout the game and helped push them over the edge in what looked like an easy sweep for the higher seeded team.
However, the Jimmies (25-10) rebounded late in the third set to stave off the three-set sweep and secure the top ranking come the tiebreaker scenario via a 25-21 third set win and obviously had turned their attention to preparing for their tiebreaker set a little early in what would end up being a lopsided 25-14 set score to end the match in favor of Corban.
Per NAIA tiebreaker rules, after head-to-head records are taken into account, should a tie still be intact, then the seeding will be determined based on sets won divided by sets played. Jamestown narrowly secured the top seed by a couple of percentage points, thus setting up the Warriors and Bobcats in a single-set tiebreaker with a rematch against Jamestown for the pool play crown on the line.
Having just lost a five-setter to St. Thomas on Wednesday, the Navy and gold were hoping to not have to see the Bobcats again with their high-octane offense and well-coached program yet came face-to-face with them once again and now needed just 25 points to make up for their tournament opening loss.
Even though the Bobcats would make several short runs to make up for lost ground, the Warriors were clearly on a mission to face the Jimmies once again, as they sprinted to a 25-19 set victory and instead of utilizing their first designated warmup period, spent the extra time off their feet with fatigue clearly starting to settle in. Corban had now played five sets to this point of the evening and would start the final tiebreaker with Jamestown during hour number five of their time in the Tyson Events Center this evening.
The orange flags clearly outnumbered the navy and gold clad members of Warrior Nation in attendance some 1,600 miles away from home, while Jamestown, N.D. is less than a fourth of the distance to Sioux City, and yet, the coordinated chants by the Jimmies' fan base were quickly replaced with the upbeat support of the Corban reserves and what few supporters they had behind their bench. It clearly took an army to take down these Warriors tonight in the final 28-26 final tiebreaker marathon where both teams had multiple set point opportunities, yet the Corban fanbase can sleep soundly knowing that their program will be back in Sioux City once again.
The Warriors conclude the 2023 season with a 28-7 record with multiple top ten victories under their belts, and will lose just one senior to spring commencement, barring any last second decisions that could still put Troutman in the driver's set for her final season of eligibility. Coach McLain and her staff now turn their attention to their upcoming spring season in 2024, as well as wrapping up their recruiting class for the fall of 2024.
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