EUGENE, Ore. – The fourth time (and homecourt advantage) were the charm for the Bushnell women's volleyball team, as the Beacons finally got over the hump with an NAIA National Championship Opening Round win to set up their first ever trip to Sioux City, Iowa for the NAIA Championship Final Site, beginning Wednesday.

Broken up into eight groups, Pool Play takes place over three days from December 3-5 with round robin competition. The winner emerging from each pool advances to the national quarterfinals on Saturday.

Bushnell is the No. 18-seed in the tournament and has been placed in Pool G, alongside No. 7-seed Bellevue (27-4) and No. 10-seed Oklahoma Wesleyan (26-3), whom they will face for the second time this season. The winner of Pool G takes on the winner of Pool B which features No. 2-seed Northwestern (Iowa), No. 15-seed Aquinas (Mich.) and No. 23-seed Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).

Bellevue, ranked No. 6 in the latest NAIA Coaches Poll, defeated Columbia College, 3-0, in the Opening Round. They will face off with the Beacons on December 3 at 7:30 pm Central Time.

The Bruins (27-4) qualified as an at-large bid out of the Frontier Conference where they took second-place behind No. 5-ranked Providence. They are making their 18^th all-time appearance in the NAIA National Championship Tournament and they have advanced to the final site for the seventh straight year.

Bellevue is 4-3 on the season against other qualifiers, having lost to Providence twice as well as the Cascade Conference's College of Idaho in their season opener. They have big wins to their credit against No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 11 Mount Vernon Nazarene and Providence.

The Bruins have a strong roster that features six seniors and 14 total upper classmen. Leading the way is senior outside hitter Eve Fountain, who was a first-team All-Frontier Conference selection and named the Frontier Conference Attacker of the Year. Fountain leads the Bruins with 290 kills and 36 service aces while adding 298 digs and 40 total blocks. She ranks second in the Frontier Conference in kills per set (3.19), third in service aces per set (0.40), and first in total points per set (3.9).

Fellow seniors Kealy Kiviniemi (RS) and Savanna Berger (MB) were also named to the All-Frontier Conference First-Team while junior setter Mila Aiwohi and junior middle blocker Chloe Cloud earned second-team honors.

Bushnell will be taking on Bellevue for the first time in school history.

Then, on December 4 at 7:30 pm Central Time, Bushnell takes on a more familiar foe in Oklahoma Wesleyan, ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Coaches Poll. The Eagles defeated Nelson University in five sets in the opening round.

The Eagles, qualifying as the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champions, are making their third-ever, and third-straight appearance in the NAIA National Championship tournament, but they are 0-4 all-time at the final site in Sioux City.

With a record of 26-3, they have built an incredible resume this season with two of their three losses coming against top-ranked teams in Corban University and KCAC Regular Season Champion McPherson. They knocked off McPherson in the tournament semifinals before winning the tournament title against Bethel College.  

The Eagles are an impressive 8-2 against tournament qualifiers this season, including victories over No. 2 Northwestern, Park, Nelson and others. 

They also defeated Bushnell in Eugene back on August 29 in straight sets. The Beacons were not at full strength that day, playing without three members of the regular rotation including a pair that went on to earn All-Cascade Conference honors.

The Eagles placed six players on the All-KCAC teams and were powered by three major individual honorees. Junior outside hitter Evelyn Rohrberg was named both the KCAC Player of the Year for the third consecutive season and the Attacker of the Year for the second straight year. Rohrberg leads both the KCAC and the NAIA in kills per set with 5.50 and ranks fifth in the conference in hitting percentage at .361, cementing her place as one of the nation's elite offensive players. 

Senior setter Sydney Collins earned her third consecutive KCAC Setter of the Year honor after once again leading both the KCAC and the NAIA in assists per set with 12.06. Collins' leadership and consistency were key in powering one of the most dynamic offenses in the conference.

Also earning First-Team All-KCAC honors was junior Libero Maria Luisa Caycedo. Sophomore Maia Rubio (OH), Sophomore Maria Andrea Santa Cruz Cossich (RS), and senior Tijana Stojilikovic (MB) earned second-team honors.

On December 5, Bellevue and Oklahoma Wesleyan will face off in the final game of the pool. Should a situation arise where all three teams come out of pool play with a 1-1 record, a series of exciting one-set tiebreakers will commence on Friday night.

The 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship is broadcast FREE on the NAIA Channel of the Urban Edge Network and the newly redesigned NAIA Network for all matches at the final site in Sioux City, Iowa. For more information and to pre-register, click HERE.

2025 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Pool Play Assignments

Full schedule and additional links are located HERE on naia.org