GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – In the previous three seasons, the Corban University Beach Volleyball team has finished their competitive slate no worse than a national semifinalist, with the first being represented by their inaugural invitational title when they stunned the field in Panama City, Florida to take home the first team championship in school history. Tomorrow morning, the Warriors will kick off their fourth-straight national tournament appearance with the first of two pool play matchups before moving into bracket play on Friday following the final pool play dual.
Ranked in the top four of the entire country for the 2025 season and No. 2-overall since the initial preseason poll, the Warriors will put their impressive 21-1 record on the line against the nation's top NAIA programs, beginning with pool play in Group B where they will represent the top seed. Thursday morning at 10am ET/7am PT, the Navy and Gold will battle No. 6-seeded University of Mobile, followed by a 2pm ET/11am PT rematch with No. 7-seeded Webber International University.
Corban beach volleyball hasn't faced off with the Rams since their 2022 national title run when they fell to them in a complete five pairs at the AVCA Championships, whereas this will be their eighth all-time matchup with Webber having faced them every season since their inaugural 2021 spring season, with Webber leading the series 4-3 but Corban emerging victorious in three of the past four meetings.
Despite picking up the sixth overall seed in the NAIA Invitational, Mobile (27-6) was top of the Sun Conference this season after going 12-0 in conference play to secure the regular season title. They're led by a fleet of indoor All-Conference student-athletes, many of whom Warrior Nation should be familiar with having host the Rams in the 2024 Women's Volleyball Opening Round, including sisters Aspen and Layton Adams in their top overall pairing who were recently named the Sun Conference Pair of the Year.
Mobile is led by Sun Conference Coach of the Year Jon Campbell who is also an award-winning indoor coach and headlined three separate All-Conference pairings within conference action with Aspen Adams being named the Player of the Year. Despite picking up a regular season championship in the Sun Conference, Webber International defeated Mobile in both the Sun Conference Tournament and AVCA Tournament championship matches, thus resulting in an at-large bid for the Rams.
The Warriors of WIU (21-10) secured the Sun Conference automatic qualifying bid thanks to a 2025 postseason that has so far secured not one, but two separate championship worthy runs through the Sun Tournament and AVCA Tournament, making up one of the hottest teams entering this week's NAIA tourney in Tennessee. Webber International is powered atop their pairings by All-Conference duos of Nadia Reid/Kiersten Tisdale and Abigail Baxter/Delanie Johnson.
Friday morning, Corban will compete in their final pool play matchup in the most highly anticipated matchup of Pool B, as No. 3-seeded The Master's University (15-12) will attempt to upend the Warriors and represent the top seed exiting pool play and entering bracket play later that same afternoon.
Five different Mustangs were named to All-Conference honors this spring season, with the first and third pairings of Evi Roberts/Annika Gudnason Violet Avila/Grace Colburn, respectively, receiving the honors from the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC), with half of their second-overall pair, Faith Wada, also earning an All-Conference nod. The Mustangs are the second of three GSAC programs to be present in Greeneville this week, with both No. 1-seeded OUAZ and No. 4-seeded Arizona Christian University battling it out in Pool A. Notably, the Mustangs swept the CCC Raiders 5-0 on two separate occasions earlier this season, with the Navy and Gold sweeping them once en route to a 5-0 record this year against SOU.
Despite a heavily loaded pool of opponents, the Warriors have the least number of overall losses on the year heading into the national tournament, with their sole loss coming against NCAA DI University of Oregon just two matches into the 2025 season. Since that loss, Corban is riding a 20-dual winning streak and have dropped only 13 pairs in total over those 20 matches.
A trio of All-Conference pairings will power the Warriors into the national tournament after going 3-0 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament to secure the conference's automatic bid, led by senior Jessica McMillian and junior Emmi Marks who were named the CCC Pair of the Year after completing a 14-1 tear through their conference opponents at the third-overall pair. Alongside McMillian & Marks in the All-CCC pairings for Corban include junior Alexis Adebodun and freshman Gabi Engels (who was also named the CCC Freshman of the Year) in the fours, with senior Megan Dennis and sophomore Emma Bischoff securing Honorable Mention honors atop the Warriors' top five duos.
Led by CCC Coach of the Year Dan Stephens, the two-time regular season champions, reigning CCC Tournament champs, and inaugural NAIA National titleholders are positioned better than ever for a lengthy trip on the east coast, eyeing their third piece of hardware in the 2025 season with an opportunity to bring home their second Red Banner and the second in a four-year span.
Results from the national tournament will be made available on the Corban beach volleyball schedule shortly following their results, as well as on the Corban Athletics social media pages which can be followed using the links below.
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