SIOUX CITY, Iowa – For the second time in a three-year span, the No. 8-ranked Corban University Volleyball team will represent one of the eight remaining programs in the entire NAIA at the 2024 National Championships, as the Warriors fought off a late rally by the No. 11-ranked Aquinas College Saints to emerge from Pool H as the undefeated squad and earn a spot in the national quarterfinals that begin tomorrow morning in the Tyson Events Center. Following a 27-25 nailbiter in the opening set, the Warriors (26-5) earned a dominant 25-13 second set, and despite dropping 28-26 and 25-16 sets to the Saints (40-3) in the third and fourth, rallied in the fifth for a 15-11 triumph that sealed their fate as the pool victors.
"This has been an incredible journey to the final eight of the NAIA National Championships, and I couldn't be prouder of the team's hard work and determination," detailed Warriors' head coach Kim McLain earlier today following their pool play victory. Each player has poured their heart and soul into this season, setting goals, committing to one another to get better each day, and this has truly paid off. This achievement is a testament to their resilience and teamwork. As we prepare for tomorrow's match, I am excited and confident in what we can accomplish together."
In only the second matchup in NAIA women's volleyball history between Corban and Aquinas, it was the Navy and Gold who were able to remain undefeated in the series thanks to the three-set sweep of the Saints in the 2023 NAIA Opening Round, followed by their five-set marathon that took place earlier today. After losing to Corban to end their season last year, Aquinas went on a 40-1 tear through their preseason schedule and conference play before eventually running into the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) brick wall of No. 22-ranked College of Idaho and No. 8-ranked Warriors, who ended their year on a two-game losing streak after stretching their win streak to 32 matches this season.
The entire first and second sets were defensive MasterClass sessions for the Navy and Gold, as they compiled ten of their eventual 13 team blocks throughout their set wins in which they held the Saints to a .135 kill percentage with 14 errors between the two frames. Meanwhile, the Warriors .107 first set of attacking was followed by one of their best offensive sets this season, as they pummeled 14 kills with just a single error on 20 attempts for a staggering .650 kill percentage to put Aquinas on the ropes.
Leading 14-7 in the third set with another three-set sweep of a nationally ranked program in their grasp, the Saints arose from the dead to score seven-consecutive points and flip an expected set loss into a back-and-forth affair. Aquinas would be the first team to earn a set-point opportunity at 24-23, yet back-to-back kills from redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke and sophomore outside hitter Emma Bischoff provided Corban volleyball with their first match-point opportunity of the day.
However, Aquinas would go on a 4-1 run over the final five points to deny the Warriors' their three-set sweep and take the set result 28-26, which would bleed into the fourth set as the Saints' momentum grew while the Navy and Gold began making unforced errors at the net and in the backcourt on a regular basis. Corban held a 13-8 lead and appeared to have regained their footing on back-to-back service aces by sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bittle, yet a timeout called by Saints' head coach Ryan Campbell reset pace of play and allow his squad to breeze to a 25-16 win to hold the Warriors to just three points for the remainder of the fourth.
Desperately needing something to fall their way after nearly clinching their second sweep of Aquinas in the national tournament in as many years, a perfect balance of kills from their attackers, a service ace by senior libero Marissa Uehara, followed by three unforced errors by the Saints allowed the Warriors to hold an 8-4 advantage at the side-swap for set number five.
Numerous long rallies later, the Saints had an opportunities to knot the contest up at 10-9 and 11-10, yet three-straight points from Corban saw their hopes dwindle and following a side-out by Aquinas, junior middle blocker Gracie Boeder scored on a slide play into the left corner of the Saints' backcourt and seal their 15-11 set win to send the Warriors back into national bracket play.
Despite having to fight off an overnight illness, Bittle was as dominant as ever for the Warriors in a must-win contest, dropping a team-high 15 kills on a .333 attacking percentage, adding eight digs, three blocks, and a pair of service aces along the way in her all-around performance. Junior opposite hitter Makayla Roginski pitched in another 13 kills with five blocks, while Bischoff and junior opposite hitter Kylie Davey added nine and eight kills, respectively.
Defensively for Corban, Schmidtke and Boeder both stepped up in the absence of First-Team All-Conference senior middle blocker Allyson Reid to bottle up the Saints' offense, as Schmidtke swatted back seven block assists while Boeder added three assisted blocks and a pair of solo stuffs. Uehara led all players this afternoon with a career-high 33 digs as their lockdown defender, with Bischoff digging up 17 attacks to fall just one shy of her own career-best mark.
The balanced setting duo of junior Abby Guindy and sophomore Nadeiah Howard kept Aquinas on their toes all day long, dishing out 30 and 20 assists, respectively, while holding down their backcourt duties with Howard leading the charge with nine digs and two service aces while Guindy secured seven digs.
The Saints see their 40-win season come to a close on the cusp of nearly forcing tiebreaker sets in Pool H, led by WHAC Player of the Year and outside hitter Mallory Keller who dropped a game-best 17 kills with eight digs, yet committed nine attacking errors after hitting into a handful of Warrior blockades. Middle hitters Samee Teachworth (12) and Lauren Chioini (10) were the only other Aquinas student-athletes in double-digit kills. All-around setter Lydia Harper dished out 40 of her team's 55 team assists and raked in 17 digs for a double-double outing, while seven blocks from Chioini and another 17 digs from libero Bella Hommes set the pace defensively for the Saints.
Following an upset of the No. 1-ranked Northwestern College Raiders to end their undefeated season, No. 19-ranked University of Montana Western earned themselves a bout with the No. 8 Warriors in the NAIA National Quarterfinal round, which will begin with first serve tomorrow morning at 11am CT/9am PT. Warrior Nation fans looking to view the livestream for free can do soon the NAIA Network, while live stats will be available for free HERE.
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