KANSAS CITY, Mo. - OUAZ (Ariz.) opens the 2026 NAIA Beach Volleyball season at No. 1. The Spirit ended the 2025 season with a 19-5 record. 

The 2026 season opens on Thursday, January 22, when the Battle for the Red Banner will begin. 

RANK	INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]	POINTS
1	OUAZ (Ariz.) [4]	65
2	Corban (Ore.) [2]	63
3	Southern Oregon	58
4	The Master's (Calif.)	54
5	Arizona Christian	50
6	Webber International (Fla.)	42
7	Mobile (Ala.)	40
8	College of Idaho	38
9	Hope International (Calif.)	32
10	Texas Wesleyan	25

Receiving Votes: Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 20, Loyola (La.) 19, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 15, William Carey (Miss.) 11, New College of Florida 10, La Sierra (Calif.) 6, Ave Maria (Fla.) 5

Ratings Methodology

• The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groupings.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team’s rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”.