KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the qualifying teams and NAIA Championship Opening Round matchups for the 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament earlier this week, presented by Marriott South Sioux City Riverfront and Riverside Technologies Inc. The 48-team event will begin with 24 NAIA Championship Opening Round matches at campus locations on Saturday, November 18.
The University of Mobile Volleyball team, led by 19th-year head coach Jon Campbell, managed to earn at automatic bid to the national tournament for the second consecutive season, finishing as the runner-up in the 2023 SSAC Volleyball Championship Tournament. The appearance in the national tourney is Mobile's ninth all-time. The Rams are scheduled to face Missouri Baptist University in this year's opening round, with the Spartans sitting at No. 8 in the latest NAIA Volleyball Top 25 Coaches' Ratings. This weekend's opening round match is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1:00 p.m. CT in St. Louis, Mo.
Mobile and Missouri Baptist have faced off one time before in history, with the Rams upsetting the then No. 1 team in the nation early in the 2019 season. Mobile swept the Spartans 27-25, 25-21, 25-19 in that matchup. The following two seasons, Missouri Baptist went on the capture back-to-back NAIA Volleyball National Championships.
Mobile is led offensively by Corrina Porch-Maxey, who has collected 358 total kills this season, averaging 3.28 kills per set. Tatum Beech and Layton Adams lead the charge as Mobile's setters, with Beech securing 552 assists this season and Adams recording 544. Defensively, Lexi Gillette has totaled 471 defensive digs, including tallying a school-record 42 digs alone in this year's conference quarterfinal match against Point University (Ga.). Overall, the Rams average 12.4 kills per set, 11.5 assists per set, and 16.2 digs per set this season.
The winner of Saturday's opening round match will advance to the final site of the 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa.
More Details
After NAIA Championship Opening Rounds, the action at the final site inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, starts with three days of pool play from November 29 – December 1. The top team of each pool will advance to the elimination bracket, starting with the quarterfinals, on Saturday, December 2. The semifinals will be played on Monday, December 4, and the national champion will be crowned Tuesday, December 5, with the first serve set for 7 p.m. CST on ESPN3.
This year's championship field includes 34 automatic qualifiers and 14 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. The 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 NAIA Championship Opening Round matches will be video streamed by the host.
The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches, excluding the semifinal and championship matches, live at the 2023 NAIA Volleyball Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Presto Sports, 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 (November 29 – December 1), and a championship package, which includes pool play and quarterfinal matches. The semifinals on December 4 and the championship on December 5 will be streamed on ESPN3. The links will be found on the schedule at a closer date.
The 24-team championship final site pool play matchups will be announced on Sunday, November 19, on NAIA.org by 5:00 p.m. CT.
Qualifiers for the 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Tournament and Opening Round Pairings
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About the University of Mobile
The University of Mobile is a Christ-centered liberal arts and sciences institution with a vision of higher education for a higher purpose, founded to honor God by equipping students for their future professions through rigorous academic preparation and spiritual transformation. Core values are: Christ-Centered, Academically-Focused, Student-Devoted and Distinctively-Driven. The university offers on-campus and online bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in over 75 academic programs. Founded in 1961, the University of Mobile is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention and is located 10 miles north of Mobile, Alabama on a campus of over 880 acres.
For information about the University of Mobile, areas of study, admissions and more, visit umobile.edu, connect with UM on social media @univofmobile, or call Enrollment Services at 1.800.WIN.RAMS or 251.442.2222.
