BU to host Columbia in NAIA Opening Round

NAIA Release
NAIA Opening Round Schedule/Results

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics on Monday announced the teams and Opening Round pairings for the 2025 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, with No. 6 Bellevue University set to host Columbia College in an Opening Round match on Saturday, Nov. 22. The 48-team event begins with 24 Opening Round contests held at campus sites across the country.

Bellevue (26-4) returns to the national tournament for the 10th straight season and the 17th time in 19 years. The Bruins earned an automatic berth after finishing as runner-up at last week's Frontier Conference Tournament and will face Columbia (23-14) at 1 p.m. inside the Bellevue University Fieldhouse. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

The nationally sixth-ranked Bruins finished as the Frontier Conference Tournament runner-up after securing second place in the final league regular-season standings behind second-ranked University of Providence. Providence received the league's other automatic berth after capturing both the Frontier Conference regular-season and tournament championships. 

Columbia earned an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament after winning the American Midwest Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Cougars finished as AMC regular-season champions after finishing with a 17-1 league mark

The Bruins are making their 18th appearance (2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) in the National Tournament, and this will be the 15th time that BU has played an Opening Round match. In its previous 14 Opening Round matches, BU has posted a record of 11-3, advancing to Sioux City on 11 occasions. 

Columbia is making its 31st appearance in the NAIA National Tournament field, the most of any program in the nation. The Cougars, who won their 25th conference tournament in school history, swept Stephens College for the AMC Tournament title last Saturday. Columbia has won nine straight matches heading into the NAIA Tournament. The Cougars have won four national championships in program history. 

This year's championship field includes 33 automatic qualifiers and 15 at-large selections. Automatic berths were awarded to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, were the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, won the regular-season championship, or finished as runner-up at the conference tournament, as determined by each conference's 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 on 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.

Opening Round Schedule

Saturday, Nov. 22 | Campus Sites