SALEM, Ore. – In a three-season span, the Corban University Women's Volleyball program has represented the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as one of the four final teams in the mix for a national title at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Under head coach Kim McLain, the Warriors have witnessed program first after program first in her ten seasons leading them into battle, and as she enters her eleventh season at the helm of the Navy and Gold program, she returns a large contingency of her national semifinalist roster from 2024 who all have more than back-to-back conference championship titles on their wish lists. The beginning of Coach McLain's second decade as the Corban women's volleyball program leader is highlighted by just one uncertainty: just how high can these Warriors climb?
With a seventeenth win this season, Coach McLain would become the winningest head coach in program history in half the number of seasons needed to do so, surpassing the 259-win total set by 20-year head coach Tracy Smith at the end of the 2014 season when she passed the baton to McLain. A 2025 CCC Coaches' Preseason Poll top overall selection has Coach McLain's program once again cemented in the center of buzz that surrounds Pacific Northwest collegiate volleyball scene, while her squad has already turned heads with NCAA DI victories and the impending top 25 showdowns at the forefront of their non-conference schedule.
"Being ranked No. 1 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and No. 3 in the nation to begin the 2025 season is an incredible honor and is a testament to the hard work our program has put in over the years," Coach McLain expressed when asked to detail their season expectations. "But rankings don't win matches, as we know we have to earn it every single day. Our team is determined, united, and hungry to keep improving. We've got a tough non-conference schedule that will test us early, which is exactly what we want. Our returners have come back with a renewed sense of purpose, and we're excited to add a great group of freshmen who are ready to contribute. This is a special group of young women who are driven, focused, and committed to the process. The goal is to win each day and continue growing as a team, both on and off the court."
Season Schedule
In typical McLain fashion, there will be no "gimme games" on the 2025 non-conference slate, as the Warriors will kick off the regular season with four-consecutive NAIA Top 20 matchups in a 30-hour span. Having earned the No. 3-overall spot in the 2025 NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll puts a large metaphorical target on their backs heading into the MBU Spartan Invitational as the highest ranked team and first of two top ten programs, yet still won't represent the first time the Navy and Gold have had to hold themselves to high expectations against highly rated programs.
The MBU Spartan Invitational officially kicks off on Wednesday, August 20th, yet the Warriors won't play their first contest until the 21st when they open their season against No. 9-ranked St. Thomas University. The Bobcats handed the Navy and Gold their only pool play loss over the past three seasons during their 2023 postseason run in a five-set thriller that nearly ended in a reverse sweep for Corban, yet the Warriors would retain the last laugh after eliminating STU in a winner-take-all pool play tiebreaker set to keep their national tourney hopes alive.
Following the Bobcats on invitational schedule will be No. 16-ranked Viterbo University, No. 20-ranked Midland University, and No. 19-ranked Missouri Baptist University on the Spartans' home court. Corban women's volleyball dealt out four-set losses to all three opponents in 2024 during the Viterbo Volleyball Classic and have the opportunity to repeat their success this year with a seasoned veteran squad.
On August 29th and 30th, the Navy and Gold will host their first non-conference tourney in the McLain era that will feature programs from across the NAIA, which includes Carroll College, Our Lady of the Lake University, and No. 13-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University. In addition, fellow CCC member RV (receiving votes) Bushnell University will participate as the fifth team to create a four-game set for the out-of-state visitors and three contests for both the Warriors and Beacons. The round-robin tourney will wrap up with an exciting top 15 matchup between Corban and Oklahoma Wesleyan at 7pm PT in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
The 2025 CCC slate will set the Warriors up between back-and-forth two-week homestands and two-week road trips for a majority of the season, beginning on Wednesday, September 3rd when the Beacons return to the state capital for the first of two I-5 rivalry matchups. The following night, Warner Pacific University journeys to the City on a Hill for a 6pm matchup before Corban women's volleyball starts a well-deserved weeklong off-period.
After hosting Northwest University and The Evergreen State College the second weekend of September, the Warriors won't return to their home gym for a CCC matchup until the first weekend of October after having to endure a grueling four-game road trip that stretches from the eastern and southern most parts of Oregon. First, Corban will cross state lines and battle No. 18-ranked College of Idaho deep in Yotie territory, with a rivalry matchup against the No. 5-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon University waiting on deck. And just six days later, the Navy and Gold will journey to Klamath Falls and Ashland to meet with RV Oregon Tech and No. 6-ranked Southern Oregon University, respectively, for the first time in 2025.
The month of October features an equal four home game and four road games on an every-other-week cycle, with key rematches against the Mounties and Yotes scheduled as the only events on Corban's campus during the weekend of October 17th and 18th. Following their final back-to-back road trips of the season in Washington and Idaho, the Warriors will wrap up their regular season on their home hardwood against the Raiders and Owls in a pair of must-see matchups that very well may determine the conference champions.
Whichever program finds themselves atop the conference standings come the end of play on November 8th will earn the right to host the 2025 CCC Tournament and secure the first of two qualifying bids to the 2025 NAIA National Tournament. The Warriors have earned an at-large berth each of the past three seasons and yet have played deeper into the national tourney on more occasions than any team in the Pacific Northwest NAIA scene.
The NAIA National Tournament Opening Round is scheduled for Saturday, November 22nd and would provide Corban with a tenth-consecutive appearance should they earn an automatic or at-large berth, all of which have resulted in a home contest for the Warriors and concluded with them punching their ticket to the national final site. The Navy and Gold are one of two programs to reach the national semifinal stage on two separate occasions since the 2022 season, with the two-time reigning national champion Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan University representing the other.
Conference Outlook
The Cascade Collegiate Conference will remain one of the most stacked leagues across the NAIA heading into the 2025 season, as half of the top six teams in this year's national preseason poll are programs competing within the CCC, led by the No. 3-ranked Warriors. Both the No. 5-ranked Mountaineers and No. 6-ranked Raiders have earned a single semifinalist berth in the past two seasons combined, while the Navy and Gold look to reach the semifinal stage for a third time in the past four seasons within a region that sports four top 18 teams and three more receiving-votes squads.
Both EOU and SOU are entering the regular season having suffered heavy losses among their starting lineups from last year, yet the experience and expectations brought forward by their coaching staffs on a yearly basis almost certainly will result in standout seasons for the Mountaineers and Raiders. A hoard of transfer student-athletes and true freshmen are expected to step up and represent the two CCC in-state rivals on court, with the trio of conference co-champions from 2024 all well within range of creating yet another spectacle for the national audience to partake in.
Following the Raiders in both the national and regional predictions is C of I who handed Corban one of their six losses in 2024 and only their third three-set sweep of the year in Caldwell. Despite being ranked 12 spots lower than the next highest CCC program on a national level, the Yotes will always remain a difficult matchup for any opponent.
A trio of receiving-vote squads represented by Lewis-Clark State College, OIT, and Bushnell will all be vying for upsets within the CCC this upcoming fall slate, each of whom have handed out upset losses to ranked opponents on a near annual basis. While depth and experience may shroud their true abilities, it's well within reason to consider the top seven preseason programs within the conference as title contenders with each passing weekend of action.
Key Returners/Newcomers
The loss of a starting libero and both middle blockers from last year's national semifinalist team certainly leaves a glaring hole within an otherwise formidable returning lineup, yet the depth sustained in addition to the program's four incoming freshmen has set the Warriors up for one of their highest ceilings during Coach McLain's Corban tenure. In addition to returning all but one of their backcourt specialists, the Navy and Gold retained both starting outside hitters (juniors Emma Bischoff and Kendra Bittle), both setters (senior Abby Guindy and sophomore Nadeiah Howard) within the 6-2 offense they run on, and their starting All-Conference opposite hitter (senior Makayla Roginski) who are all coming off their best seasons of competition in terms of sheer statistical output and consistency on an daily basis.
The attacking firm of Bischoff, Bittle, and Roginski resulted in headaches for opponents across the last two seasons, most notably in 2024 when the trio combined for nearly 1,000 kills and over 55% of the team's total points scored across 33 matches. All three are capable of leading both opposing teams in kills for the match while bringing a defensive presence at the net and in the backcourt that are difficult to gameplan around. With the addition of key returners in senior middle blocker Gracie Boeder, redshirt sophomore opposite hitter Taylor Kieser, and sophomore opposite hitter Addison Mills thrown into the starting lineup and/or rotation, the offensive authority that the Warriors command is certain to continue in 2025.
Guindy and Howard have remained busy keeping the many Corban attackers happy during both the 2024 and 2023 campaigns as the starting/reserve setters, dealing out a combined 2,373 assists since their initial season of competition together. Their mutual assisting totals within a two-year span is consistently within the top ten performances across the country with having to quarterback one of the NAIA's most lethal attacking cores averaging over 13.0 kills per set and providing assists on 12.3 of those points scored via kills.
From the service line, the Warriors are on average one of the most aggressive serving teams in the country with nearly two aces per set yet commit nearly just as many reception errors on defense while their aggressive serving can also result in multiple service errors per match. However, straying from the aggression at the service line has usually resulted in lopsided losses for the Navy and Gold, as they rely on Bischoff's CCC-leading 54 service aces from 2024 while Guindy, Howard, and sophomore defensive specialist Madison Hernandez all secure at least 20 aces per season.
In the backcourt and at the net defensively, attempting to replace Corban icons in libero Marissa Uehara and middle blocker Allyson Reid will be difficult given their vocal senior leadership and consistent performances in restricting opposing offenses, yet Coach McLain returns a handful of defensive specialists while the middle of the net will be under the watchful eyes of Boeder, Mills, and redshirt freshman Jenna Konzelman. Corban blockers have historically adapted from opponent to opponent exceptionally well and will be a continual expectation under Coach McLain's direction.
Hernandez is expected to see her fair share of action as both a serving specialist and defensive change of pace when needed, while junior Kaile'a Ontai and sophomore Dani Street will attempt to pick up where Uehara left off in a two-libero rotation depending on all-around availability.
Despite each of the twelve returners all representing capable options for the Corban women's volleyball team, the four freshman recruits represented by middle blocker Karissa Riskey, setter Braeleigh MacAskill, and defensive specialists Callie Aplin and Cylie Hartzell provide an added layer of depth that comes with every McLain-led squad. Aplin has been training and attending Corban classes with the program since the spring of 2025 following her early high school graduation, while Riskey, MacAskill, and Hartzell all enter their freshman seasons with the raw untapped potential that every All-CCC Warrior enters the program with.
Warrior Whims (Final Thoughts)
With each passing season, the Corban women's volleyball program continues to raise the bar on a team, individual, spiritual, and academic level. With a 3.76 cumulative team GPA that tops the Warrior athletic department, serving the Salem community in a handful of community service roles and projects, and a 16-woman roster that glorifies God in everything they do first and foremost, preventing the Navy and Gold from securing their first national title is only a matter of time.
However, beginning with the weekly opposition of one of the most difficult conferences across the country and extending to a myriad of rotation options for the coaching staff, uncertainty hides behind many corners. Graceful humility, complete commitment to matchday execution, and keeping the entire roster healthy for an entire 18-week fall season represent the biggest obstacles keeping the Warriors from returning to the national title match for the second time in a four-year interval. While trophies and championship rings appear to be in contention for the 2025 Warrior squad, vowing to His plan will always remain the ultimate accolade.
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