KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Opening Round Schedule | Watch Video Announcement Live) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the teams and Opening Round pairings for the 2019 NAIA Volleyball National Championship presented by Marriot South Sioux City Riverfront. The 44-team event will get underway with 12 National Championship Opening Round matches at campus locations on Nov. 23.

The top 19 seeds and championship host Morningside (Iowa) automatically advance to the national championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. Action inside the Tyson Events Center starts with three days of pool play from Dec. 3-5. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the elimination bracket on Dec. 6, and the national champion will be crowned Dec. 7 with first serve set for 7 p.m. CST on ESPN3.

This year's field includes 36 automatic qualifiers, 7 at-large selections and one host berth (Morningside). The automatic berths are determined by regular-season champions or runner-ups, conference tournament title winners or runner-ups. The remaining at-large bids were determined by the final regular-season Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced Monday. Final site pools will be determined on Sunday, Nov. 24, and released by 5 p.m. CST

The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches excluding the semifinals and championship matches live at the 2019 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 (Dec. 3-5) and a championship package is available at $39.95. You can also buy an All-Championship pass and watch every championship streamed on the NAIA Network in 2018.

The semifinal and championship matches will be streamed via ESPN3.

Qualifier Highlights

• The Great Plains Athletic Conference dominates the field with five qualifying teams: Concordia (Neb.), Jamestown (N.D.), Morningside (Iowa), Northwestern (Iowa) and Saint Mary (Neb.).
• Four conferences had three qualifying teams: Appalachian Athletic Conference, American Midwest Conference, Cascade Collegiate Conference, and the North Star Athletic Association.
• There are nine teams in the 2019 field that are making an appearance in the championship for the first time: Point (Ga.), Lincoln (Ill.), Saint Mary (Kan.), Dakota State (S.D.), Martin Methodist (Tenn.), William Carey (Miss.), Florida Memorial and Lawrence Tech (Mich.).
• There are eight teams in the 2019 field that are making their 10^th or higher appearance at the national championship: Texas Wesleyan, Missouri Baptist, Southern Oregon, Bellevue (Neb.), Westmont (Calif.), Northwestern (Iowa), Madonna (Mich.), Columbia (Mo.).
• Columbia holds the highest number of appearances overall in the national tournament at 26. They are the only team in the 2019 field and in all of NAIA women's volleyball that has more than 20 tournament appearances. The closest team to them is Georgetown (Ky.) with 20 total tournament appearances.
• The 2018 national champion Park (Mo.) returns to the championship as the American Midwest Conference Tournament Champion. The Pirates entered the 2019 season at No. 1 and return to the No. 1 spot in the Top 25 poll for NAIA postseason.
• There are three teams in the 2019 field that have previously won a title: Columbia (1998, 1999, 2001, 2015), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (2017) and Park (2014, 2018).
• Columbia is the only team in the tournament field to have won more than one title as well as the only team in the field to win a title in consecutive years (1998-99-01-15).
• Indiana and Missouri yield the highest number of championship qualifiers with four each. Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Oregon followed with three.
• Twenty-seven teams return to the championship after competing in the 2018 championship.
• Saint Mary (Neb.) returns to the championship field after a 12-year drought. The Flames return to the national championship for the first time since 2006.

Make sure to download the Experience NAIA Championship App for updated news and information for the 2019 NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship! Download the app HERE!

Qualifier Information

Opening Round Match-Ups

Lincoln Christian (Ill.) at No. 20 Saint Mary (Neb.)

Menlo (Calif.) at No. 21 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)

Lincoln (Ill.) at No. 23 Bellevue (Neb.)

Florida Memorial at No. 24 Reinhardt (Ga.)

Point (Ga.) at Westmont (Calif.)

IU Kokomo (Ind.) at Trinity Christian (Ill.)

William Carey (Miss.) at Xavier (La.)

IU South Bend (Ind.) at Madonna (Mich.)

Brescia (Ky.) at Ottawa (Kan.)

Huston-Tillotson (Texas) at Texas Wesleyan

Martin Methodist (Tenn.) at Milligan (Tenn.)

No. 22 Dakota State (S.D.) at Saint Mary (Kan.)