SALEM, Ore. – Each of the past nine years, Corban University women's volleyball head coach Kim McLain has seen her program continuously raise the bar and reach new levels of expectations for incoming recruits and supporters of Warrior Nation. Nine-straight national final site appearances, an NAIA national runner-up title, a handful of conference regular season and tournament championships, and countless individual awards ranging from both the national and regional levels have resulted in a "what's next?" mentality for Coach McLain's Warriors.
"I am excited and looking forward to what the 2024 season has in store for this team!" shared Coach McLain when asked to speak on season expectations. "I believe the preseason schedule we have set for this year, which includes four matchups against top fifteen programs, will expose our weaknesses as well as prepare us for our competitive conference. This year's depth in all positions allows us to push each other in practice by helping our overall growth, development, as well as improving our grit and determination to prepare us for battle each time we step onto the court. The sky's the limit for what this team is capable of accomplishing, and I'm blessed to coach each of these young ladies every day!"
After opening their 2024 regular season with the exchanging of a three-set loss to No.14-ranked Bellevue University and a three-set sweep of Simpson University, the Warriors will enter their upcoming weekend of NAIA Top 15 matchups with the best record of any of the teams in attendance in La Crosse, Wisconsin. A brutal opening weekend across the nation for a majority of the top 25 teams have left most programs battered and licking their wounds as they try to find consistency across the court, including Corban's upcoming opponents in No. 11-ranked Missouri Baptist (1-5), No. 5-ranked Viterbo (1-3), and No. 6-ranked Midland (1-3).
Once this weekend's contests have concluded and Coach McLain has a better understanding of where her program currently ranks among the best in the nation, the Warriors will return home for a brief exhibition against NCAA DII Western Oregon University before they open conference play in a region that contains three nationally ranked teams and one receiving votes opponent.
Beginning with five-straight conference matches away from the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, the Navy and Gold will need to continue their "Road Warrior" mentality if they want to avoid falling behind early in the race for a conference championship. The last two weekends of September will feature the first back-to-back home matchups of the season for Corban volleyball, when they'll welcome three-straight playoff teams from 2023 in RV College of Idaho, No. 3-ranked Eastern Oregon University, and Lewis-Clark State College.
A brief trip to Washington to battle Northwest University and The Evergreen State College then separates Corban and the back half of their conference slate, where they'll open up against Bushnell University on Wednesday, October 9th, followed by Multnomah and Warner Pacific University the following weekend, all on their home court.
The grueling journey to eastern Oregon and Caldwell will represent the final road trip of October before returning for their last four home contests of the 2024 regular season. Finally, Walla Walla University and LC State will host the Warriors for the CCC closing weekend on November 8th and 9th, respectively.
The top four teams in the conference standings by season's end will earn automatic trips to the CCC Tournament, which will be hosted by the regular season conference champion. The fifth through eighth seeds will all play a single play-in game to fill the final two spots in the preceding conference tourney.
Among the postseason qualifiers, those who earn automatic bids or receive at-large invitations will participate in the 2024 NAIA National Tournament, where the opening round is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 23rd at various campus sites across the nation. The victors of the twenty-four opening round matches will advance to the final site pool play and bracket play rounds in Sioux City, Iowa starting on December 4th and ending with a national champion being crowned on December 10th.
To view the entire 2024 Corban Women's Volleyball schedule, click HERE.
Despite losing the reigning CCC Player of the Year from both the 2022 and 2023 seasons in outside hitter Rylee Bales (formerly Troutman), the Warriors have a contingency of rising stars ready to step up and replace the only career 1,500-kill and 1,000-dig student-athlete in program history. With the impressive depth that the roster contains this season ranging from five-year seniors to newly recruited freshmen, Coach McLain explains that replacing Troutman will not be done in a simple "1-for-1" exchange, but by the utilization of multiple student-athletes all capable of earning spots in her starting rotation.
The return of four All-Conference players from 2023 will provide a baseline for the program across the court, as First Team junior setter Abby Guindy looks to command an offense of Second Team junior opposite hitter Makayla Roginski and senior middle blocker Allyson Reid, as well as Honorable Mention sophomore outside hitter Emma Bischoff. Redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke, junior opposite hitter Kylie Davey, and sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bittle all saw court time in 2023 and are expected to have elevated roles once again in the Warriors' potent offensive scheme.
Guindy is joined once again by senior Courtney Garwood and sophomore Nadeiah Howard, each of whom traded starts last season to backup Guindy in the second rotation. The three-setter rotation worked wonders during Corban's 28-7 overall record and is expected to be in play once again for Coach McLain.
Defensively for the Warriors, senior libero Marissa Uehara returns for her final season of collegiate volleyball to mentor a youthful backcourt of incoming defensive specialists. Uehara was a top ten defender in 2023 with the most sets played of any libero across the CCC at 131 appearances and concluded the season with 490 total digs. Reid was the commanding force at the net when opposing attackers tested the Corban defense last season, setting new single game (12), season (151), and career (458) blocking records and will put the all-time record out of reach with her final season in 2024.
Joining Uehara in the backcourt thus far in just two contests played is a trio of freshmen, represented by defensive specialists Dani Street, Madison Hernandez, and Rebecca Wilber, all of whom provide Coach McLain and her staff with a plethora of options as the rotation works around from frontcourt to backcourt.
At the net, transfer junior outside hitter Gracie Boeder immediately found playing time with her extensive list of honors and accomplishments from her time with Linn-Benton Community College, where she was named the NWAC Player of the Year and a back-to-back NWAC champion with the Roadrunners. Warrior Nation can expect to see more of Boeder and what she brings both offensively and defensively to the program. Freshmen outside/opposite hitter Addison Mills provides yet another viable attacking option for the team from any of the three options at the net as well as Corban looks to prove that their depth is among the best in the nation.
To see the completed 2024 Corban Women's Volleyball roster, click HERE.
To find a more in-depth breakdown of the six recruits that joined the program this fall, click HERE.
Nobody controls the Warriors' 2024 destiny more so than the Warriors themselves, who could easily see themselves contend for not only conference regular season and tournament championships but earn a spot in the NAIA National Championship match and keep their streak alive as the most recent CCC team to do so.
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