ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Don’t second guess the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) when it comes to volleyball championship season. Going 2-0 in pool play as the No. 3 seed in Pool F, the No. 21-ranked Northwestern College volleyball team (20-10, 9-7 GPAC) punched their ticket to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Quarterfinal round for the third straight season.
For the fifth consecutive season, the Raiders have notched 20+ wins, behind the two wins in pool play to advance to the Quarterfinal round. The Raiders will battle the defending national champions and No. 3-ranked Missouri Baptist Spartans at 7:30 p.m. inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa on Court 1.
Head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch has led the Raiders to six of the program’s seven trips to the NAIA Quarterfinals in his tenure at Northwestern, since taking over the program in 2006. Last season the Raiders faced GPAC foe Midland in the Quarterfinals, where they dropped the match 3-1. Van Den Bosch and the Raiders will look to make it to the program’s first-ever semifinal appearance in program history.
Northwestern Red Raiders
Northwestern was the first team this year to punch their ticket to the bracket play stage of the 2021 NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship. As the No. 3-seed in Pool F, the Raiders came out with tons of confidence and played their best volleyball of the year. Northwestern began the day getting payback against No. 5-ranked College of Saint Mary to begin the day in straight sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-21). Later in the day, the Raiders battled a tough No. 12-ranked Eastern Oregon squad but kept up the great play, prevailing in five sets (25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-8).
Missouri Baptist Spartans
Northwestern draws a tough Quarterfinals opponent in the defending national champions of Missouri Baptist University (30-2, 9-0 AMC). The Spartans hail from the American Midwest Conference (AMC) and are led by ninth-year head coach Chris Nichols. Nichols has led the Spartans to the national tournament for the last seven seasons, as MBU has been to the national tournament 12 times in their program’s history. 2020 marked the first-ever volleyball national title for the Spartans, as they also have a runner-up finish and three 3rd-place finishes.
Entering the match with an overall record of 30-2 on the year, the Spartans ran the table in conference play this season. Their only losses came back in August at the Viterbo Invitational, dropping back-to-back matches against then No. 3-ranked Midland (3-2) and No. 9-ranked Viterbo (3-0). Since that August 27 date, Missouri Baptist has won out – winning 26 straight matches, including seven consecutive straight set victories to wrap up the regular season and conference tournament.
The winner of the match will advance to the NAIA Semifinals to square off with the winner of Concordia (Neb.) and the winner of Pool G (Midland/Marian (Ind.)) Friday, December 3 inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa at 7:30 p.m.
