KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the fifth and final NAIA Beach Volleyball Regular Season Coaches' Top 10 polls for the 2024 spring season earlier today, where for the first time all year, the Corban University Beach Volleyball program rose to the top of the poll and will thus serve as the top seeded team in the nation entering the NAIA National Invitational next week. This marks the eighteenth-consecutive poll where the Warriors have appeared in the top ten, taking a spot in every ranking since the inaugural 2022 season and marking the first time they will hold the top overall selection heading into the final tourney.

To view the NAIA's release on the final 2024 poll, click HERE.

"We have been talking all season about having a target on our backs, and that teams will play their best ball against us," commented Corban head coach Dan Stephens when asked about the team's best ranking of the season. "Our Warriors have had to battle against our conference opponents all year knowing that they are doing their best to knock us off, and it has really helped us improve on our beach game. We have so much more to learn and improve on and we will be facing just as strong teams that are all competing for that title."

Coach Stephens continued with his thoughts by stating, "As a coaching staff, we want this team to have a memorable experience and not only grow as beach players, but also to see how competing correlates into both their walks as Christians and the battles they will face in their spiritual journeys. We really want to fight for the national title next week, but also represent the love God has for us and honor him in everything we may accomplish."

The Warriors (20-3) received the No. 1-overall ranking on the cusp of an impressive showing at the NAIA West Championships last week in Chula Vista, California, completing a perfect 5-0 run through the top programs from the Cascade Collegiate (CCC) and Cal Pac conferences to claim the inaugural title and clinch one of four automatic bids available around the country to the national invitational. The last two seasons, Corban has been invited to the national championship-esque tournament via at-large selections, forcing the program and remainder of Warrior Nation to wait in anticipation as the qualifiers were announced each year. This time around, the Navy and Gold took fate into their own hands and flew home with a regional trophy in their arms.

After capturing a 5-0 sweep over Benedictine University Mesa on Thursday morning, the Warriors clinched their fourth win of the season over RV College of Idaho to setup a pool play winner-take-all match with No. 6-ranked University of Saint Katherine the next day. In their first top ten matchup of the 2024 season, Corban left no doubt in a 4-1 defeat of USK to take the top finish in their pool and schedule an epic CCC rematch against RV Southern Oregon University in the semifinal round.

Despite the Raiders' best efforts, the top Navy and Gold pairing of junior Megan Dennis and freshman Emma Bischoff showed why they're the Pair of the Year from the CCC, clinching the semifinal round in a down-to-the-wire third set finish to advance to the championship dual where Saint Katherine was awaiting a redemption opportunity. With two of the five pairs going to a third set on Friday morning and winning the threes outright, the Firebirds were under the impression that they were only needing to flip those two matchups in their favor in order to clinch the automatic bid and championship title.

However, after being pushed to the brink of elimination by Southern Oregon the day prior, the Warriors left no doubt in their championship rematch with USK, dominating their way to an 8-0 set result and 3-0 final score after the threes and fives were stopped due to a decision having already been made in Corban's pair sweeps among the ones, twos, and fours. Having now won the matches necessary to claim the top spot in the nation, it was only a matter of time before the Navy and Gold were announced as the "team to beat" and bear a massive target on their backs heading into the national invitational.

The 2024 NAIA National Invitational will begin on Thursday, April 25th in Greeneville, Tennessee at the Greeneville Beach Volleyball Complex, where pool play will begin for the Warriors at 10am ET, 7am PT, against No. 5-seeded Webber International University (18-8), while their second dual against No. 8-seeded Ave Maria University (13-3) is slated for a 2pm ET, 11am PT start time.

2024 NAIA Beach Volleyball Regular Season Coaches' Top 10 Poll – Final

Receiving Votes: Southern Oregon 38; Loyola (La.) 30; Hope International (Calif.) 24; College of Idaho 18; Mobile (Ala.) 16; William Carey (Miss.) 3

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