Aquinas and Cornerstone Set to Host NAIA Women's Volleyball Opening Round Matchups

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Watch Video Announcement | NAIA Release) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the qualifying teams and opening-round matchups for the 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship presented by Marriott South Sioux City Riverfront and Explore Siouxland. The 48-team event will begin with 24 championship opening round matches at campus locations on Saturday, November 22.

The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference saw two teams qualify and earn the right to host the opening round matchup. Aquinas enters the tournament as the #15 seed and will host Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) on Saturday. The Blue Raiders are members of the Mid-South Conference and earned an at-large bid into the tournament. Lindsey Wilson and Aquinas faced off in non-conference play earlier this season with Aquinas winning in five sets. 

Cornerstone University earned the #24 seed in the tournament field and will host Walla Walla (Wash.) of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. WWU is making its first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championship and earned an at-large bid to join the field. This is the first-ever meeting between these two programs. 

This year's championship field includes 33 automatic qualifiers and 15 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, regular-season championship, or finished runner-up at the conference tournament, as determined by each conference qualification plan. At-large bids were determined by the NAIA Women's Volleyball Selection Committee. The selection committee consists of coaches and administrators from around the country.

All championship opening round matches will be broadcast by each host and can be viewed for free on the NAIA Channel of the Urban Edge Network.

Following the opening rounds, the final site pools will be announced on Sunday, November 23, at 1 p.m. CT. 

Action at the final site will take place inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, and will commence with three days of pool play from December 3 to 5. At the conclusion of pool play, the top team in each three-team pool will advance to the elimination bracket, starting with the quarterfinals, on Saturday, December 6. The semifinals will be played on Monday, December 8 and the Battle for the Red Banner will end Tuesday, December 9.

The 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa will be broadcast FREE on the NAIA Channel of the Urban Edge Network and the NAIA Network.