KANSAS CITY, Mo. – 2016 has been a historic year for the Corban University volleyball team, and on Monday, the Warriors found out from the official NAIA Announcement that they would be hosting an NAIA National Tournament Opening Round match for the first time in program history. Corban will host Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) on Saturday, November 19, in the program's first-ever NAIA tournament match.
The match is set to begin in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center at 6 p.m. PST.
Ticket Prices will be as follows:
Reserved $10*
Adults $8
Students $5
Ages 5 and Under FREE
Corban is just one of two teams from the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) to garner berths into the NAIA National Tournament, with the other being Eastern Oregon University. For a complete look at the entire field of teams, click here.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University, which earned the Crossroads League's second automatic berth, hails from Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Cougars, like the Warriors, advanced to their conference tournament championship contest, earning the second automatic berth to nationals. The Cougars lost in the tournament championship contest to Indiana Wesleyan University in straight sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-21).
The Cougars boast a 31-5 overall record on the year, owning a 12-3 record in road contests. Ashley Gingerich ranks No. 5 overall in digs per set in the NAIA at 6.02 digs/set. Annelise Rohrer leads the way offensively for Mount Vernon Nazarene, notching 4.14 kills/set to rank No. 14 overall in the NAIA. The team's primary setter on the year has been Bridget Troyer, totaling 677 assists on the year to average 6.0 assists/set. For Mount Vernon Nazarene, the appearance at nationals is the program's third ever.
Corban boasts a 22-6 overall record following the conclusion of Saturday's CCC Tournament Championship match, and the Warriors are making their first-ever appearance in the tournament while hosting for the first time ever as well. Corban earned the CCC's second automatic bid to the national tournament via advancing to the CCC Championship match vs. Eastern Oregon, a school which already had the CCC's first automatic bid.
The Warriors are led by Madison McLain who ranks No. 6 overall in the NAIA at 11.18 assists/set on the year for 1,163 total assists thus far. Defensively, it has been the CCC Libero of the Year, Haley Wells, leading the way for Corban, totaling 478 digs on the year for the Warriors.
For her efforts this past weekend, Wells was named the CCC Defensive Player of the Week after totaling 35 digs at the CCC Tournament.
Offensively, Amber Parker leads the way for the Warriors, averaging 4.11 kills/set with 427 total kills on the year, while Alaina Gentili ranks No. 10 overall in the country in hitting percentage at a .366 clip with 343 kills for the Navy and Gold.
The match is set to have both live stats and live video.
Whichever team wins Saturday's contest qualifies for the NAIA Volleyball National Championships Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa. The final site format is a 32-team, pool play tournament, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to single-elimination championship play. The final set is set for November 29 – December 3.
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