2015 National Championship Tournament

The 2015 NAIA National Championship Tournament will feature six teams and will be hosted by Missouri Baptist University. The National seeding’s are as follows:

1. Missouri Baptist University

2. Park University

3. St. Ambrose University

4. Grandview University

5. Hope international University

6. Cardinal Stritch University

The six spots in the National Tournament are earned in three possible variations. Either be crowned the Conference Champions in one of the four conferences, receive the one at large bid for being the best team left that did not win their respected conference or host Nationals. In this certain scenario, Missouri Baptist won their conference, so there were two at large bids.

Grandview and Park University received the two at large bids. Park lost to Missouri Baptist while Grandview lost to St. Ambrose. The committee decided that Park and Grandview as the two deserving teams.

The tournament will be played in St. Louis next weekend. There are three teams on each side of the brackets. Park, Grandview and Hope are on one side of the bracket while Cardinal Stritch, St. Ambrose and Missouri Baptist are the other three teams. Each team in the brackets will play each other. The top two teams from each side will move into the final four.

The winner of the final bracket will be crowned the 2015 National Champion.

For more information, please visit http://www.mamvic.com. The official website of NAIA Men’s Volleyball.

Conference Tournament Finals

Warner University leaves Thursday to head to Merced, California to compete in the Conference Tournament Finals. Competition will take place between Hope International, University of California-Merced, Concordia University-Irvine, and Warner University.

The Conference standings are as follows:

1. Warner University: 5-1 Conference 15-8 Overall

2. Concordia University Irvine: 4-1 Conference 14-10 Overall

3. Hope International University: 5-2 Conference 11-12 Overall

4. University of California-Merced: 1-9 Conference 2-16 Overall

5. Bluefield College: 0-2 Conference 3-20 Overall

Blue field College will not compete in the Conference Tournament due to a school policy that states each team must be at least .500 on the season to participate in post season competition.

Each team will compete in three matches over the weekend. The team who goes 3-0, will be crowned the Conference Tournament Champion. In case of a tie, many factors will be taken into the decision of the champion. It very possibly could come down to point differential.

The winner of this tournament will advance to the National Championship Tournament. Warner has not been to the National Championship since 2013 while Concordia University competed in the National Championship last year.

Royals setter Martin Kruger said, “We have to play our own game to have a chance. We know what to expect, and we know what we have to do to accomplish our goal.”

For more information, visit http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Conference/Conference.aspx?association=28&sg=MVB&sea=NVBMVB_2015&conference=NVBMVB1_NAT or http://www.warnerroyals.com.

Asics/Wyndham Hotel Invitational

Warner University’s Men’s Volleyball team traveled to Irvine, California to compete in the 2015 Asics/Wyndham Hotel Invitational. The Royals competed in four matches overall vs. Concordia University, Clarke University, University of California Merced, and the University of California Santa Cruz. With three of these four matches being elite competition, the Royals went 1-3 overall on the weekend.

The first match for the Royals was against the University of California Santa Cruz. UCSC competes at the NCAA D-II level and are currently ranked top five in the nation. The Royals fell just short losing in five sets by the scores of 25-23, 24-26, 28-26, 23-25, 15-13. This was one of the most competitive matches of the tournament with each set being determined by just two points.

The next match would be against the tournament hosts, Concordia University. (6)Concordia cruised to an easy 3 set win of the Royals with set scores of 25-21, 28-26, 25-14. The second set was very competitive, however the Royals fel just short. In the third and final set, Warner setter Martin Kruger was experiencing a quadricep injury and was forced to leave the game, resulting in a much larger margin of loss.

The third game was an easy 3-0 win for the Royals vs. the University of California-Merced. Warner won three straight by the scores of 25-16, 25-22, and 25-17. Sophomore Outside Hitter, Dylan Sechrest, helped lead the Royals with 11 kills and 8 aces while racking up a .611 hitting percentage.

The final match for the Royals was against (2)Clarke. The Royals lost in 5 close sets and fell just short at the end. Warner finished the tournament 1-3.

Concordia University moved up from  #6 to #3 after going 4-0 on the weekend. The Royals stayed at #7.

For more information please visit http://www.warnerroyals.com.

Concordia University Irvine Invitational

March 13 and 14 in Irvine, California, Clarke University, University of California-Santa Clara, Concordia University Irvine, University of California Merced, and Warner University will compete in the 2015 Concordia University Irvine Invitational.

Matches start Friday morning at 10 a.m. and last until Saturday at 4 p.m. Each team will play the opposing teams one time which means each team will play four matches over the weekend. All teams except for University of California-Santa Clara compete in NAIA competition. UCSC competes in NCAA Division II competition.

Three matches stick out this weekend between three top 10 NAIA teams. Clark University(2), Concordia University Irvine(6), and Warner University(7) all have matches against each other this weekend. The Warner vs. Concordia match will determine who wins the regular season National Conference championship. Also, both teams matches vs. Clarke will play a determining factor in who receives the at large bid for the National Tournament.

Warner leaves on Thursday afternoon and flies to Los Angeles California. For more information, please visit the NAIA Men’s volleyball website, http://www.mamvic.com or the official page of Warner University, http://www.warnerroyals.com.

Photo Credit: Kendall Sherouse. Sports Information Director – Warner University.

Movement in the Top 10

The new NAIA Men’s Volleyball Top 10 rankings were released today and are as follows:

1. Park University (Parkville, Mo.)
2. Clarke University (Dubuque, Iowa)
3. Missouri Baptist (St. Louis, Mo.)
4. Grand View (Des Moines, Iowa)
5. St. Ambrose (Davenport, Iowa)
6. Concordia University-Irvine (Irvine, Calif.)
7. Warner University (Lake Wales, Fla.)
8. Hope International (Fullerton, Calif.)
9. Graceland University (Lamoni, Iowa)
10. Lourdes University (Sylvania, Ohio)

There were some changes in the Top 10 from the previous week. First, Missouri Baptist was ranked 4 and Grand View was ranked 3. These two flipped after Grand View lost to St. Ambrose. St. Ambrose was previously ranked 8, but jumped three spots to 5 after the win vs Grand View. St. Ambrose also defeated Lourdes University which dropped them from the 9 spot to the 10.

Warner University, Concordia University-Irvine, and Hope International dropped a spot after not competing this weekend. Warner dropped from 6 to 7, Concordia dropped from 5 to 6, and Hope dropped from 7 to 8. The rest of the rankings remained the same.

There is a plethora of disputes going on as to why St. Ambrose jumped Warner, Concordia, and Hope especially when none of these teams lost. Two weeks ago, Warner defeated St. Ambrose head-to-head and also beat Grand View earlier this season. Many feel as favoritism is being showed due to one of the commissioners being a member of the St. Ambrose family.

Warner University returns to action this weekend when they travel to Irvine, California to take on 2 Clarke University and 6 Concordia University.

For more Information, please visit http://www.mamvic.com; the official volleyball page of NAIA Men’s Volleyball.

Photo Credit: Kendall Sherouse. Sports Information Director for Warner University. http://www.warnerroyals.com