Preview of the 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship Opening Rounds

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [SCHEDULE | LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM] The 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship Opening Round will take place on Saturday, November 22 at 24 campus sites across the country. 

This year’s championship field includes 33 automatic qualifiers and 15 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. 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 broadcast by each host and can be viewed for free on the NAIA Channel of the Urban Edge Network.

Following the opening rounds, the final site pools will be announced on Sunday, November 23, at 1 p.m. CT. 

Highlights

• All qualifying teams will be participating in the opening round. The winner of each opening round will advance to the final site. 
• History of Opening Rounds
  • Opening round prior to the final site was first started in 2008
  • From 2008 to 2019, not every team competed in the opening round. The top 15 advanced to the final site automatically. 
  • From 2020 to the present, all teams compete in the opening round before advancing to the final site. 
• Columbia (Mo.) holds the all-time championship appearance record with 31 total appearances. The Cougars also have the most wins during tournament play at 103. CC also leads the 2025 tournament field with four titles. 
• Northwestern (Iowa) is the only other team in the field that has more than 20 appearances at the national tournament, with 21. 
• There are seven teams that are making their first appearance in the tournament field: Fisk (Tenn.), Northwest (Wash.), Rio Grande (Ohio), Simpson (Calif.), Stephens (Mo.), Texas A&M Texarkana and Walla Walla (Wash.). 
• Four other teams in the tournament field have at least one title: two-time defending national champions Indiana Wesleyan (2023-24), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (2017), Missouri Baptist (2020-21) and Park (Mo.) (2014-18).
• Huntington (Ind.) enters the championship field after a drought of 32 years. The Foresters' first appearance in the national championship was in 1993. 
• Bethel (Kan.) and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) also have double-digit years between this year and their last appearance in the championship field, with 17 and 14 years, respectively. 
• Twenty-eight of the 48 qualifiers qualified for the 2024 championships. 
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference is represented by seven teams in the championship field, while the Crossroads League follows with five teams of its own. 
• Cumberlands (Ky.) is the only team in the field that remains undefeated at 34-0. 
• Teams that are looking to capture their first opening round win: Florida National, Loyola (La.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Dillard (La.), Bushnell (Ore.), Bethel (Kan.), Fisk (Tenn.), Huntington (Ind.), Rio Grande (Ohio), Simpson (Calif.), Stephens (Mo.), Texas A&M - Texarkana and Walla Walla (Wash.). 
• Eight teams will be competing in the opening round for the first time: Bethel (Kan.), Fisk (Tenn.), Huntington (Ind.), Rio Grande (Ohio), Simpson (Calif.), Stephens (Mo.), Texas A&M - Texarkana and Walla Walla (Wash.).
• Indiana Wesleyan has the most wins in the opening round with a record of 8-2. Three teams follow closely behind with seven wins of their own: College of Idaho (7-2), Missouri Baptist (7-0), Corban (Ore.) (7-0). 
• Thirteen of the teams, that have competed in an opening round previously, are undefeated: Northwest (Wash.), Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Oklahoma Wesleyan, Providence (Mont.), Taylor (Ind.), Midland (Neb.), Northwestern (Iowa), Park (Mo.), Eastern Oregon, Viterbo (Wis.), Corban (Ore.) and Missouri Baptist. 
• Only one of 24 opening round matches has been paired in the opening round before: McPherson (Kan.) vs Texas Wesleyan. The last time these two teams met in the opening round was in 2018, when McPherson won 3-2. 
• Players to watch
  • The top five players in the nation in kills per set will all be competing in the opening round: Evelyn Rohrberg of Oklahoma Wesleyan, 5.52; Cameron Offerle of Bethel (Kan.), 4.81; Mariana de Carvalho of Grand View (Iowa), 4.62; Sahara Browning of Walla Walla (Wash.), 4.52; and Ellie Frey of Taylor (Ind.), 4.37. 
  • The top five players in the nation in attack percentage will all be competing in the opening round: Kara Gipson of Cumberlands (Ky.), .496; Aleksandra Ivanovic of St. Thomas (Fal.), .426; Evelyn Brown of Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio), .413; Fernanda Perini of Missouri Baptist, .406; Enya Fierens of McPherson (Kan.), .403. 
  • Zavyr Metzger of Northwestern (Iowa), Kiauna Mack of Eastern Oregon and Lydia Gustafson are first, third and fourth in the nation in blocks per set with 1.93, 1.72 and 1.50 averages, respectively. 
  • Jaci Drinnon of Mobile (Ala.) is second in the nation in digs per set (6.07) and the only player in the top five of the category competing in an opening round. 
  • Three players are in the top five in the nation in service aces per set: Yaimaris Garcia of Walla Walla (Wash.) ranks No. 1, .89; Sara Zampedri of Cumberlands (Ky.) ranks No. 2, .71; Belen Puche Laguna of Loyola (La.) is No. 5, .65. 
  • Four of the top five players in the nation in assists per set will be competing this weekend: Sydney Collins of Oklahoma Wesleyan ranks No. 1, 12.13; Abbigail Porter of Indiana Wesleyan ranks No. 2, 11.50; Bella Thompson of Providence (Mont.) ranks No. 3, 11.44; Savanah Jolly of Cumberlands (Ky.) ranks No. 5, 10.86. 

Opening Round Match-Ups

					HOST CITY
	1 Eastern Oregon	vs		Simpson (Calif.)	La Grande, Ore.
	2 Northwestern (Iowa)	vs		Saint Xavier (Ill.)	Orange City, Iowa
	3 Concordia (Neb.)	vs		Florida National	Seward, Neb.
	4 Indiana Wesleyan	vs		Stephens (Mo.)	Marion, Ind.
	5 Corban (Ore.)	vs		Fisk (Tenn.)	Salem, Ore.
	6 Providence (Mont.)	vs		Northwest (Wash.)	Great Falls, Mont.
	7 Bellevue (Neb.)	vs		Columbia (Mo.)	Bellevue, Neb.
	8 McPherson (Kan.)	vs		Texas Wesleyan	McPherson, Kan.
	9 Cumberlands (Ky.)	vs		Columbia International (S.C.)	Williamsburg, Ky.
	10 Oklahoma Wesleyan	vs		Nelson (Texas)	Bartlesville, Okla.
	11 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio)	vs		Rio Grande (Ohio)	Mount Vernon, Ohio
	12 Missouri Baptist	vs		Dillard (La.)	St. Louis, Mo.
	13 IU Kokomo (Ind.)	vs		Reinhardt (Ga.)	Kokomo, Ind.
	14 The Master's (Calif.)	vs		Texas A&M-Texarkana	Santa Clarita, Calif.
	15 Aquinas (Mich.)	vs		Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	Grand Rapids, Mich.
	16 St. Thomas (Fla.)	vs		Loyola (La.)	Miami Gardens, Fla.
	17 Midland (Neb.)	vs		Grand View (Iowa)	Fremont, Neb.
	18 Bushnell (Ore.)	vs		MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	Eugene, Ore.
	19 Viterbo (Wis.)	vs		Huntington (Ind.)	La Crosse, Wis.
	20 College of Idhao	vs		Bethel (Kan.)	Caldwell, Idaho
	21 Mobile (Ala.)	vs		Marian (Ind.)	Indianapolis, Ind.
	22 Taylor (Ind.)	vs		Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	Upland, Ind.
	23 Park (Mo.)	vs		Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	Parkville, Mo.
	24 Cornerstone (Mich.)	vs		Walla Walla (Wash.)	Grand Rapids, Mich.