GREENWOOD, Ind. – The College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization announced the 2025 Women's Volleyball Academic All-American teams earlier this morning, where the Corban University Women's Volleyball program was represented by an upperclassman in the most respected and top-tier award presented to a student-athlete in collegiate athletics. Junior libero Kaile'a Ontai becomes the first Warrior women's volleyball player to claim one of the 14 spots on either of the Academic All-American teams for the NAIA level in program history, earning Second Team honors by the national association earlier today following her breakout campaign in the fall of 2025.
To read the CSC's release on the 2025 Women's Volleyball Academic All-American teams along with complete lists of honorees from the NCAA and NAIA, click HERE.
The CSC Academic All-America program is nominated and voted on by members of the CSC, which are the Sports Information Directors/Director of Athletic Communications from every NAIA institution. Each school's nominees must have met the following criteria to be eligible for the awards: at least sophomore standing both athletically and academically while having maintained at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA through their most recently completed semester. Additionally, women's volleyball student-athletes specifically must have either played in 90% of all scheduled counting contests for the 2025 fall season or started in 66% of all scheduled counting contests. Liberos, although not counted in stats as a starter, may be counted as such for nominating purposes.
Ontai becomes the first Academic All-American in Warrior women's volleyball program history following a historic defensive season for the junior from Pearl City, Hawaii, as Ontai was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Libero of the Year after leading the conference programs in digs per set for CCC contests at a 4.41 average while ranking second in total digs (404) and digs per set (4.34) across every regular season matchups spanning from both in and out of conference play.
Earlier the same season, she was named the CCC Defender of the Week and later NAIA National Defender of the Week thanks to her dominant backrow performances in a pair of wins against two nationally ranked opponents. Her 24 reception errors marked the lowest by any starting libero across the CCC and provided her with a .947 reception percentage, which was also the most consistent among the Pacific Northwest defensive specialists.
Academically, Ontai sports a 3.92 cumulative GPA as an academic senior despite only being in her third year at Corban, representing one of the top students overall on campus and within the science department. Ontai is majoring in biology with an emphasis in biokinetics as she pursues a career within the STEM field. She has been named a CCC Academic All-Conference and NAIA Scholar-Athlete on three separate occasions when including her spring beach volleyball seasons of competition and was most recently named to the CSC Academic All-District team that qualified her for today's Academic All-American status.
"I am extremely proud of Kai for receiving Second Team Academic All-American honors," began Corban head coach Kim McLain when she learned of her libero's most recent accomplishment. "This award is so well deserved and a true reflection of her commitment to excellence both in the classroom and on the court. Kai's hard work, discipline, and consistency have paid off in a big way. She sets the standard for what it means to be a student-athlete. I am truly blessed and honored to coach her."
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