The National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the
Volleyball National Championship Opening Round matches for the 32nd annual
event. The top-11 teams, in addition to host school Morningside (Iowa), will
receive a bye, while the other 24 qualifying teams will play in the Opening
Round matches on Nov. 19. All matches will be played at on-campus sites.
The winners of the National Championship Opening Round matches will advance to
the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa, location of the NAIA
National Championship presented by CNOS Foundation Nov. 29 - Dec. 3.
The following teams have received an opening round bye: Azusa Pacific (Calif.),
Biola (Calif.), Columbia (Mo.), Concordia (Calif.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Fresno
Pacific (Calif.), Lee (Ten.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Morningside (Iowa),
Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Southern Oregon and Texas at Brownsville.
The final 24 teams will be placed into six pools and will play round-robin pool
play Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, with the top-two teams from each pool advancing to the
single-elimination bracket starting Dec. 2. The championship match will take
place at on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. CST in Sioux City.
Ending the Aii Conference Tournament in second place, the Golden Eagles will be one of the 24 teams who will compete in a 2011 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round match on Saturday, November 19. Number two seed California State University-San Marcos (29-7) pulled off a mild upset in the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference championship match, defeating number one seed La Sierra University (23-3), 3 sets to one, by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23 on Saturday night.
Finishing as the runner-up in the Aii Conference Tournament, the Golden Eagles (23-3) will travel to Costa Mesa, CA to take on Vanguard University (21-12) on the Opening Round of the 2011 NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The time for the game is 7pm.
32nd Annual NAIA National Volleyball Championships Details
