Sioux City, Iowa — It’s championship week for the Northwestern College volleyball team as they begin play at the 2020-21 NAIA Championship held at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Pool play begins on Tuesday for all 24 teams at the final site; Northwestern, the top seed in pool E, will play 21st-ranked Oklahoma City at 10:30am on court #2. The Raiders will then play 13th-ranked Corban, the No.2 seed in pool E, at 1pm on Wednesday.
Northwestern is 3-0 all-time against Oklahoma City, including a win in the round of 16 at last year’s national championship. The Raiders also earned wins during regular season play in 2011 and 2015
Northwestern is 3-1 all-time against Corban with all four matches played since 2017. The Raiders have won three straight in the rivalry, including a 3-1 win in pool play at last year’s championship.
Northwestern is making its fourth straight and 16th overall appearance at the NAIA Volleyball Championship, third most among this year’s field (Georgetown – 21, Madonna – 19). They are 32-31 all-time at the championship and have reached the quarterfinals five times, most recently last season.
This will be the 11th team that current Northwestern head coach, Kyle Van Den Bosch, has taken to the championship. Ranked fifth in the final coaches’ poll released earlier today, Northwestern received one of the 36 auto bids by way of the GPAC Tournament runner-up finish.
This is the sixth time Oklahoma City has qualified for the national tournament and fifth time to the final site. They are 5-12 all-time in the NAIA postseason and have made it as far as the round of 16 in both 2016 and 2019.
Corban will be playing in its fifth straight and overall national tournament, reaching the quarterfinals in 2017. They have advanced out of pool play in each of the previous four appearances.
