SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the Pool Play Assignments  for the 2017 NAIA Volleyball National Championships, and the Corban University volleyball team is ready to shine on the biggest stage next week. The Warriors begin their quest at a national title November 28 – December 2 in Sioux City Iowa, and the Warriors will look to go further than any Warrior Volleyball team before.

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Corban is one of four Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) teams that qualified for the NAIA Championship Final Site, with College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon University, and Northwest University being the other three. The Eagles of Northwest needed to win in the NAIA Opening Round to advance to the Final Site, and they did so easily with a sweep over the weekend.

Corban enters the NAIA Championship Final site with a 24-7 overall record and is ranked No. 10 overall in the NAIA. There are eight different pools with four teams in each pool at the NAIA Final Site. Corban is paired with No. 7 Park University (Mo.), and a pair of teams receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25 Poll: Indiana Wesleyan University and Missouri Valley College.

The Warriors will first take on Missouri Valley College (MVC) on Tuesday, November 28, at 1 p.m. PST. On Wednesday, Corban will then take on Indiana Wesleyan University at 2 p.m. PST, and the Warriors will close out pool play with a match against No. 7-ranked Park. Only two of the four teams will advance out of the round-robin pool play group.

Last year, Corban and Park faced off against one another in the pool play, with Park winning in four sets. The two squads will play each other in the final match, with likely a lot on the line with both teams surely going to be looking for a crucial win.

Park is led offensively by Nada Meawad with 430 kills on the season, swinging for a .328 hitting mark. Dishing out the team's assists on the year as the primary setter has been Danna Gomes, totaling 1145 thus far. At the net, Maren Mair has racked up 78 total blocks, while Aneisha Ford has tallied 69. In the back row, Celina Monteiro leads the way with a team-best 510 digs. As a team, Park boasts a 28-3 overall record, and like Corban received an opening round 'bye' to the final site.

MVC won in the NAIA Opening Round against Indiana University-East in straight sets, taking its record to 33-8 overall on the year. Prior to that, the Vikings lost in the conference tournament championship match in five sets to No. 8-ranked Grandview. On the season, the team ranks No. 1 overall in total assists with 1,947, No. 1 in total overall digs with 2,803, and No. 1 in total kills with 2,137. Individually, Katarina Krstonosic leads the way with 469 kills, while keeping the offense rolling has been Kristin Sazama with 1075 assists. Deborah Constanzo boasts a team-best 107 blocks at the net, while Madison Sherman has recorded a team-leading 761 digs.  

Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) owns a 28-10 overall record on the year and advanced to the NAIA Final Site thanks to an Opening Round win over IU Kokomo in straight sets. On the year, IWU ranks No. 10 in the NAIA in total assists with 1,660, while individually, the squad is led offensively by Tay Thomas with 393 kills and Morgan Miller with 367 kills. Katie Cole serves as one of the team's setters with 743 assists, while Emily Workman has racked up 714 assists on the campaign. Defensively, Lauren Gross has totaled a team-leading 109 blocks, while in the back row, Banner Rodgers has tallied a team-best 578 digs.

Corban ranks No. 5 in the NAIA in assists per set as a team with 13.04/set, while the Warriors also rank No. 8 overall in kills/set as a team at 13.94/set. Offensively, Amber Parker leads the way with 427 kills on the year, while Adriana Aguayo has added 328 for the Warriors. In addition, Alaina Gentili has totaled 319 kills and has racked up 107 blocks. Keeping the offense flowing for Corban, both Madison Milligan and Cierra Leopoldino have been integral in the attack, dishing out 765 and 580 assists, respectively. Defensively, a well-rounded team effort has been key all year around, but the back row is led by Haley Wells with 528 digs, while Marandah Boeder has registered a team-leading 109 blocks.