Nov. 16, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the opening round pairings for the 29th Annual NAIA Volleyball National Championship.  The top 12 teams will receive a bye while the next 24 teams will play in the opening round matches on Saturday, Nov. 22.  All matches are played at on-campus sites.

Winner of each opening round match will advance to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa.  The tournament will be held at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena from Dec. 2-6, 2008 in Sioux City.

The final 24 teams are placed into six pools and will play a round robin pool play Dec. 2-4.  The top two teams from each pool will advance to the single elimination bracket, which begins Friday, Dec. 5 and will end with the championship match on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. (CST).

Final site pool assignments and schedule will be announced on Sunday, November 23 by 1 p.m. (CST).

The following teams received an opening round bye and will advance to the final site: Azusa Pacific (Calif.), Bellevue (Neb.), Biola (Calif.), California Baptist (Calif.), Columbia (Mo.), Concordia (Calif.), Fresno Pacific (Calif.), Georgetown (Ky.), Lindenwood (Mo.), Madonna (Mich.), Morningside (Iowa) and Northwestern (Iowa).

2008 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round – Saturday, November 22, 2008

Pairings	Site
Match 1: St. Thomas (Texas) at Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)	San Diego, Calif.
Match 2: Shawnee State (Ohio) at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	Lewiston, Idaho
Match 3: Asbury (Ky.) at Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)	Bourbannais, Ill.
Match 4: Indiana Wesleyan at Dordt (Iowa)	Sioux Center, Iowa
Match 5: Union (Tenn.) at Vanguard (Calif.)	Irvine, Calif.
Match 6: Indiana Tech at King (Tenn.)	Bristol, Tenn.
Match 7: Menlo (Calif.) at College of Idaho	Caldwell, Idaho
Match 8: Webber International (Fla.) at Mobile (Ala.)	Mobile, Ala.
Match 9: Bethel (Kan.) at Doane (Neb.)	Crete, Neb.
Match 10: Lee (Tenn.) at Walsh (Ohio)	Canton, Ohio
Match 11: Wiley (Texas) at Lubbock Christian (Texas)	Lubbock, Texas
Match 12: William Penn (Iowa) at Black Hills State (S.D.)	Spearfish, S.D.