Recap of the Final Day of Pool Play at the 2023 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship
Dec 02, 2023
Day Three Highlights
- Pools A, B, C, and E advanced the top seeds. The middle seeds in pools D, F, G and H upset the top seeds on day three.
- Northwestern (Iowa) extended its win streak to 15 with a three-set win over Bellevue (Neb.) and was the first team to advance to the quarterfinals. The Red Raiders have advanced out of pool play 11 times now but have yet to advance past the quarterfinals.
- Indiana Wesleyan extended its record to 35-0 and also raised its tournament record against IU Kokomo (Ind.) to 3-0. IU Kokomo is currently the only team to push IWU to five sets this season. This is only the second time that the Wildcats have advanced out of the quarterfinals. The last time the team advanced to the quarterfinals was in 2019.
- Midland advanced out of pool play for the eighth time with their win over the top seed in Pool D, Concordia (Neb.).
- Eastern Oregon advanced out of pool play after a 3-1 win over Montana Tech. The Mountaineers have advanced out of pool play in eight of the last 10 years that they have qualified for the national championship. EOU extended its season win streak to 22.
- Viterbo (Wis.) extended its tournament record over Southern Oregon to 2-0 with Thursday’s 3-0 win over the Raiders. This is the eighth time that the V-Hawks have advanced out of pool play but the first time in four seasons.
- Vanguard (Calif.), in straight sets, upset the top seed in Pool H, Missouri Baptist. The Lions are advanced out of pool play for the fourth time.
- For the 23rd time, Columbia (Mo.) is advancing out of pool play after upsetting the top seed in Pool F, Park (Mo.). The Cougars have evened their tournament record against the Pirates to one apiece after today’s win.
- With a replay of the 2022 championship match on court 1, Corban (Ore.) turned the tides and forced a tie-break set after winning 3-1 over Jamestown (N.D.).
- Corban and St. Thomas (Fla.) faced each other in a set to 25 for a chance to continue playing. Corban won the set 25-19. After winning the first tie-break set, Corban went on to face Jamestown one more time before deciding who would be advancing to the quarterfinals out of Pool G. Jamestown and Corban battled through a marathon of a set as the defending national champions, Jamestown, won the set 28-26 to advance to the quarterfinal round.
- Quarterfinalists holding a win streak of 10 or more: Columbia (11), Eastern Oregon (22), Indiana Wesleyan (35), Northwestern (15) and Vanguard (27).
- Columbia and Jamestown are the only previous champions that advanced out of pool play. The Cougars have won four titles in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2015. Jamestown won its title in 2022.
- All of the quarterfinalists qualified for the 2022 championship except for Vanguard. The Lions last qualified for the tournament in 2018.
- Only two teams that qualified with an at-large bid advanced out of pool play.
- Vanguard is the only team advancing out of pool play that does not have 10 or more appearances at the tournament, but they miss that mark by only one appearance, with 2023 being the team’s ninth time qualifying.
- Conferences that are represented in the quarterfinals: American Midwest Conference (Columbia), Cascade Collegiate Conference (Eastern Oregon), Crossroads League (Indiana Wesleyan), Golden State Athletic Conference (Vanguard), Great Plains Athletic Conference (Northwestern, Jamestown, Midland) and North Star Athletic Conference (Viterbo).
- Individual Tournament Leaders
- Eva Joldersma of Indiana Wesleyan leads the tournament in kills (59).
- Martina McGrath of Viterbo leads the tournament in attack percentage with more than 10 attempts (0.532).
- Abbigail Porter of Indiana Wesleyan leads the tournament in assists (142).
- Sydney Collins of Oklahoma Wesleyan leads the tournament in assists per set (12.1).
- Bianca Grassi of St. Thomas (Fla.) leads the tournament in digs (88) and digs per set (8).
- Marissa Mullins of Indiana Wesleyan leads the tournament in solo blocks (6) and total blocks (23).
- Lauryn Samuelson of Midland (Neb.) leads the tournament in block assists (20).
- Madi DeLucia of Vanguard and L Miller of Northwestern lead the tournament in service aces (8).
- Team Tournament Leaders
- IU Kokomo leads the tournament in kills (194), assists (188) and digs (252).
- Viterbo leads the tournament in kills per set (16.56) and attack percentage (0.306).
- St. Thomas (Fla.) leads the tournament in digs per set (21.36).
- St. Ambrose (Iowa) leads the tournament in total blocks (40 – 9 solo, 62 assisted).
- Northwestern (Iowa) leads the tournament in blocks per set (3.7) and service aces (22).
- Morningside (Iowa) leads the tournament in service aces per set (2.5).
The NAIA Network – the association’s official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches, excluding the semifinal and championship matches, live at the 2023 NAIA Volleyball Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Presto Sports, allows users access to live video, statistics and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile.
The semifinal and championship matches on December 4th and 5th will be streamed on ESPN3. The link can be found on the schedule at a closer date.