The Northwestern College volleyball team is ranked second in the final NAIA Coaches' poll and earned a first round bye into the upcoming NAIA National Championship Final Site beginning Dec.3 at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. 

    NAIA Press Release - Qualifiers | PDF

    NAIA Press Release - Final Poll | PDF

Ranked second in last week's poll, Northwestern held its spot and heads into the national championship with a No.2 ranking and receiving nine of the 25 possible first place votes. Park (Mo.), the 2018 National Champion and preseason No.1, is ranked first with a 28-3 overall record and totaled 13 first place votes. Indiana Wesleyan, with a 34-1 record, is third and earned the final three first place votes. Missouri Baptist, the previous No.1, dropped to fourth while Southern Oregon rounds out the top five, moving up two spots after winning the Cascade Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament. 

Northwestern is one of five teams from the GPAC ranked in the top 25, joining Jamestown (8), Concordia (15), College of Saint Mary (20) and Midland (25). A sixth conference team, Dordt, received votes. 

The Red Raiders are one of 20 teams (top 19 teams in ranking, along with the host team, Morningside) to receive a first round bye and directly qualify to the final site of the 2019 NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The final 12 teams that comprise the 32-team final site will be the winner of the first round matches to be held this weekend (Nov. 23). Northwestern, along with Jamestown, Concordia and Morningside, will give the GPAC four teams guaranteed to play in Sioux City. College of Saint Mary will host Lincoln Christian (Ill.) for a play-in match. 

Northwestern is making its third straight and 15th overall appearance to the NAIA Volleyball Championship, the third most appearances among the team's in this year's field (Columbia -26, Madonna-18). 

2019 Women's Volleyball Coaches' Poll - Final (Nov.18)

RANK	LAST TIME	SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES]	RECORD	POINTS
1	5	Park (Mo.) [13]	28-3	580
2	2	Northwestern (Iowa) [9]	28-1	566
3	3	Indiana Wesleyan [3]	34-1	552
4	1	Missouri Baptist	31-4	548
5	7	Southern Oregon	29-3	507
6	6	Viterbo (Wis.)	31-5	506
7	4	Eastern Oregon	29-3	474
8	8	Jamestown (N.D.)	28-4	458
9	9	Columbia (Mo.)	27-5	436
10	10	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	28-5	425
11	12	Marian (Ind.)	31-2	394
12	14	Central Methodist (Mo.)	30-3	388
13	11	Grand View (Iowa)	27-10	358
14	13	Corban (Ore.)	20-9	344
15	15	Concordia (Neb.)	23-6	332
16	18	Oklahoma City	33-1	295
17	19	Providence (Mont.) (Mont.)	24-6	287
18	20	Lawrence Tech (Mich.)	32-2	262
19	17	Montana Tech	25-7	260
20	23	College of Saint Mary (Neb.)	24-13	203
21	22	Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	27-5	195
22	NR	Dakota State (S.D.)	19-12	194
23	16	Bellevue (Neb.)	26-8	175
24	25	Reinhardt (Ga.)	32-2	136
25	21	Midland (Neb.)	19-10	130

Others receiving votes: Westmont (Calif.) 119, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 106, Saint Francis (Ind.) 48, Dordt (Iowa) 34, Menlo (Calif.) 22, Thomas More (Ky.) 21, Xavier (La.) 17, Northwest Christian (Ore.) 15, Madonna (Mich.) 12, Ottawa (Kan.) 12, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 9, Huston-Tillotson (Texas) 6