SIOUX CITY, Iowa – [Opening Round Results | Pool Play Schedule | Bracket] The 2020 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship will open up play with pool play matches on Tuesday, April 27 in the Tyson Events Center.

Quick Facts

• This is the 13th year that the championship has been hosted at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
• There are 24 teams that advanced to the final site. All qualifying teams had to advance to the final site by playing in an opening round.
• There were a total of 48 teams that qualified for the championship tournament and 36 of them were automatic qualifiers and 12 captured at-large berths. The automatic berths are determined by regular-season champions or runner-ups, conference tournament title winners or runner-ups, or by conference selection. The remaining at-large bids were determined by the final regular-season Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
• Keiser (Fla.) is the only one that advanced to the final site that has not before. This is the Seahawks first tournament appearance.   
• The champions from the last three years will be competing in the championship field: Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Marian (Ind.) and Park (Mo.).
• Three of the teams in the championship field were the runners-up in four of the last five years: Missouri Baptist 2015, Dordt (Iowa) 2016 & 2017, Westmont (Calif.) 2019.
• Nineteen teams advanced also competed in the 2019 national championship.
• Teams to watch

• • Marian (Ind.) – The Knights entered the championship field as the defending national champions. Marian was ranked as high as No. 6 in the Coaches’ Top 25 Poll this season. The team also leads the nation in kills per set (14.7).
  • Jamestown (N.D.) – The Jimmies opened the season with their first No. 1 rank in team history and remained at No. 1 for the entirety of the season. The team has suffered only one loss during the 2020 season to Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) opponent Northwestern (Iowa).
  • Park (Mo.) – The Pirates have held the No. 2 rank in the Coaches’ Top 25 Poll for the entire season and suffered only three losses on the season to Division II opponents.
  • Indiana Wesleyan – The Wildcats remained in the Top 5 of the Coaches’ Top 25 poll for the entire season being ranked as high as No. 3. The team has suffered only two losses on the season to Grace (Ind.) and IU Kokomo (Ind.).
  • Westmont (Calif.) -  The Warriors opened the season ranked at No. 4 and worked their way up to No. 3 in the final two polls. The only loss the team has had this season came at the hands of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (DII).
  • Missouri Baptist – The Spartans were in the Top 5 of the Coaches’ Top 25 poll for the first three polls this season and hung around just outside of that in the last two polls. MBU also leads the nation in hitting percentage as a team at 0.326.
  • Northwestern (Iowa) – The Red Raiders made their way into the Top 5 of the Coaches’ Top 25 poll in the last two polls of the season. The team’s only losses this season came from GPAC opponents Dordt (Iowa) and Jamestown (N.D.).

• Players to watch

• • Sophia Salak of Oklahoma City - leads the nation in assists per set at 12.2. The junior has totaled 709 assists on the season in 58 sets.
  • Sacha Legros of Providence (Mont.) – leads the nation in digs per set at 7.6. The senior has recorded a total of 672 digs on the season in 89 sets.
  • Nada Meawad of Park (Mo.) - leads the nation in kills per set at 5.6. Meawad has totaled 390 kills on the season in 70 sets.
  • Abbie Seward of Keiser (Fla.) – leads the nation with 533 kills on the season with an average of 4.7 kills per set.
  • Maddy Payne of Bethel (Ind.) – leads the nation in blocks with a total of 172. Payne has recorded 127 assisted blocks and 45 solo blocks for an average of 1.5 blocks per set in 115 sets.

• The first two days of the tournament will consist of pool play matches. Pools are made up of three teams each and the teams that have the best record in each pool or win on a tie break scenario advance to the quarterfinals.
• The quarterfinals are the beginning of single elimination bracket play with the winners advancing to the semifinals and then the championship.

The NAIA Network – the association’s official video-streaming home – will broadcast all pool play and quarterfinal matches live at the 2020 NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single-day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while a pool play pass is $24.95 (April 27 – April 28) and a championship package is available at $39.95. The semifinals on April 30 and the championship on May 1 will be streamed on ESPN3

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