BU earns at-large bid to Nationals: Hosts Texas Wesleyan in Opening Round
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the teams and Opening Round pairings for the 2020-21 NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The 48-team event will get underway with 24 National Championship Opening Round Matches at campus locations on April 17.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the teams and Opening Round pairings for the 2020-21 NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The 48-team event will get underway with 24 National Championship Opening Round Matches at campus locations on April 17.
The Bruins return to the National Tournament for the fifth-straight season and the 12th time in the last 14 years. Bellevue (16-5), ranked No. 17 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll, earned an at-large bid and will host Texas Wesleyan (18-4) on Saturday, April 17 for an opening-round matchup at 1:00 p.m. The match will be played at Bellevue West High School.
Bellevue won the NSAA regular season for the first time in school history, finishing with a 12-2 league record. The Bruins fell to No. 20 Viterbo in the championship match of the NSAA Tournament on April 10 in Bellevue.
Texas Wesleyan finished as the runner-up in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Bruins are making their 13th appearance (2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) in the National Tournament and this will be the 10th time that BU has played an Opening Round match. In its previous nine Opening Round matches, BU has posted a record of 6-3, advancing to Sioux City on six occasions.
TWU makes its 12th appearance in the NAIA National Tournament. The Rams qualified by finishing as runner-up in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament.
The 24 opening-round winners on April 17 will advance to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa on April 27-May 1.
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 final regular-season Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced today. Final site pools will be determined on Sunday, April 18, and released by 5 p.m.
The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches excluding the semifinals and championship matches live at the 2020 NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single-day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while a pool play pass is $24.95 (April 27-28) and a championship package is available at $39.95.
The semifinal and championship matches will be streamed via ESPN3.
Opening Round Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 17 | Campus Sites
Opening Round Pairings
| Visiting Team | Host Team | |
| St. Mary (Kan.) | at | Jamestown (N.D.) |
| IU East (Ind.) | at | Park (Mo.) |
| Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | at | Westmont (Calif.) |
| Georgetown (Ky.) | at | Indiana Wesleyan |
| Trinity Christian (Ill.) | at | Northwestern (Iowa) |
| Milligan (Tenn.) | at | Missouri Baptist |
| Bryan (Tenn.) | at | Marian (Ind.) |
| UC Merced (Calif.) | at | Eastern Oregon |
| Cottey (Mo.) | at | Central Methodist (Mo.) |
| Mobile (Ala.) | at | Keiser (Fla.) |
| Mayville State (N.D.) | at | Midland (Neb.) |
| The Master's (Calif.) | at | Corban (Ore.) |
| McPherson (Kan.) | at | Grand View (Iowa) |
| Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | at | Providence (Mont.) |
| MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | at | Dordt (Iowa) |
| William Woods (Mo.) | at | Ottawa (Kan.) |
| Madonna (Mich.) | at | Viterbo (Wis.) |
| Texas Wesleyan | at | Bellevue (Neb.) |
| Bushnell (Ore.) | at | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
| Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | at | Oklahoma City |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | at | Cornerstone (Mich.) |
| Aquinas (Mich.) | at | IU Kokomo (Ind.) |
| Bethel (Ind.) | at | Reinhardt (Ga.) |
| Concordia (Neb.) | at | Xavier (La.) |