SIOUX CITY, Iowa— The final 24 teams remaining in the postseason have arrived in Iowa for the NAIA Volleyball National Championships, and the No. 20 Cal State San Marcos Cougars are looking forward to the three pool play matchups ahead of them November 27-29 in Sioux City, Iowa.
By
winning the A.I.I. Conference Championship, and then
defeating No. 22 Vanguard in their NAIA opening round match, the Cougars were placed in Pool F in the 24-team field, where the teams were each split into six groups of four. The top two competitors from each pool will advance to single elimination bracket play Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
Pool F |
No. 6 The Master's College |
No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan |
No. 20 Cal State San Marcos |
No. 21 Viterbo (Wis.) |
CSUSM has never faced Indiana Wesleyan or Viterbo, but is familiar with The Master's, who they are 1-3 against lifetime. A.I.I. Player of the Year
Taylor DeGraaf had a game-high 21 kills in the teams' most recent matchup November 2, while A.I.I. Setter of the Year
Alyssa Foster notched a career high 20 digs in the Mustangs four-set victory. That match was the only loss for the red-hot Cougars over their last 10 games.
In just their second year as a program, Cal State San Marcos is 9-1 lifetime in the postseason. The Cougars are a perfect 8-0 in A.I.I. Tournament play, and 1-1 in NAIA National Tournament play. This will be CSUSM's first appearance in pool play at Nationals.
The Cougars schedule for bracket play appears as follows:
|
Nov. 27 |
Nov. 28 |
Nov. 29 |
Cal State San Marcos |
The Master's |
Indiana Wesleyan |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
|
3:45 PM PST |
6:00 PM PST |
3:45 PM PST |
The full list of NAIA National Championship pools can be found
here. Fans wishing to follow the action live can track the games through
live stats by clicking on the "W" for webcast at game time.