Kansas City, MO — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the qualifying teams and Opening Round pairings for the 2021 NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship. The 48-team event will get underway with 24 National Championship Opening Round matches at campus locations on November 20.
After opening rounds, the action inside the Tyson Events Center starts with two days of pool play from November 30 – December 1. The top team in each pool will advance to the elimination bracket on December 2, the semifinals will be played on December 3 and the national champion will be crowned December 4 with the first serve set for 7 p.m.
This year’s field includes 36 automatic qualifiers and 12 at-large selections. The automatic berths are determined by regular-season champions or runner-ups, conference tournament title winners or runner-ups, or by conference selection. The remaining at-large bids were determined by the selection committee. Final site pools will be determined on Sunday, November 21, and released by 5 p.m. CST
The Great Plains Athletic Conference brings in the highest number of qualifiers to the field with seven qualifying teams: College of Saint Mary (Neb.), Concordia (Neb.), Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Dordt (Iowa), Jamestown (N.D.), Midland (Neb.) and Northwestern (Iowa).
Jamestown (N.D.) enters the 2021 championship field as the only team with an undefeated, 31-0, record.
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) returns to the championship field after a 31-year drought. The Tigers return to the national championship for the first time since 1990. SAGU (Texas) follows closely behind with their last appearance being in 1991.
Opening Round Match-Ups
| Away Team | Home Team | |
| McPherson (Kan.) | at | Jamestown (N.D.) |
| IU South Bend (Ind.) | at | Viterbo (Wis.) |
| Blue Mountain (Miss.) | at | Missouri Baptist |
| Midway (Ky.) | at | Park (Mo.) |
| Florida College | at | Providence (Mont.) |
| Florida National | at | College of St. Mary (Neb.) |
| Bryan (Tenn.) | at | Marian (Ind.) |
| Park Gilbert (Ariz.) | at | Corban (Ore.) |
| Edward Waters (Fla.) | at | Bellevue (Neb.) |
| Cornerstone (Mich.) | at | Midland (Neb.) |
| Columbia International (S.C.) | at | Eastern Oregon |
| Life (Ga.) | at | Xavier (La.) |
| Saint Xavier (Ill.) | at | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
| SAGU (Texas) | at | Central Methodist (Mo.) |
| Texas Wesleyan | at | Columbia (Mo.) |
| Ave Maria (Fla.) | at | Concordia (Neb.) |
| Madonna (Mich.) | at | Indiana Wesleyan |
| Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | at | Ottawa (Ariz.) |
| Bushnell (Ore.) | at | Montana Tech |
| IU Kokomo (Ind.) | at | Northwestern (Iowa) |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | at | Ottawa (Kan.) |
| Dakota State (S.D.) | at | Grand View (Iowa) |
| Bethel (Ind.) | at | Dordt (Iowa) |
| Westmont (Calif.) | at | Oregon Tech |
