By Nikki Sherrill, Communications and Sports Communication Intern

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – (Schedule and Results) The No. 1 overall seed and undefeated Westmont (Calif.) Warriors saw two streaks snap on the second day of pool play in the 2016 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, presented by F&M Bank and Absolute Screen Art. Coming into Sioux City, the Warriors had not suffered a loss all season, and did not give up a set since October 14. Today, the defending national champion in Columbia (Mo.), which is a three seed this year, played beyond its seeding to remain undefeated in pool play.

The Cougars’ found their way to a 2-0 lead and hoping for the sweep until Westmont crawled back to extend the match to five sets. Columbia blitzed out to a big lead in the final set and eventually captured the fifth, 15-9. Peiyi Liu, last season’s National Player of the Year, led all players with 16 kills to go along with five blocks. Since its 0-3 record at the 2014 national championship, Columbia is now on an 8-0 streak in Sioux City.

Morningside (Iowa), still riding high from its upset over Park, looked to reach a 2-0 record in pool play in a match against Lourdes (Ohio). The Mustangs fell in set one and crawled back to take the next two and gave up set four. Riding the spirit from the hometown crowd heading into the fifth set, the Mustangs’ hoped to capture the victory. Lourdes did not let up, however, as it took the win, 3-2 to move to 1-1 in pool play.

Park avenged yesterday’s loss to the host Morningside, as it bounced Corban (Ore.) to improve to 1-1 in pool play. The 2014 National Player of the Year Wendy Romero led the Pirates to the 3-1 victory with 20 kills and 16 digs, which was a team-high for Park.

Of the 16 matches today, nine ended in a sweep with the remaining seven going extra, including three five-setters. No. 1 seeds went 7-1 on day two, with Viterbo (Wis.) escaping a scare from Carroll (Mont.).

The No. 2 seeds held their own against the No. 4’s, as they went 7-1. Coastal Georgia picked up the lone win against the higher seeds. The Mariners defeated No. 2 Georgetown (Ky.) in a 3-2 match. Rachel Amundson led the squad with 16 kills and 20 digs.

After two days of pool play, Viterbo leads all teams in three major statistical categories – hitting percentage (.317), kills per set (16.1) and assists per set (15.1). Individually, Romero is the player to watch so far as she is No. 1 in both kills per set (6.0) and service aces (.9).

The final day of pool play commences tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. CST inside the Tyson Events Center as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds face off, followed by the two’s and three’s. The top two teams in each pool advance to single-elimination bracket play on Friday.

For more information on the NAIA Volleyball National Championship, click here.