NAIA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS | POOL E
Tyson Events Center | Sioux City, Iowa
2 p.m. PST Wednesday – Columbia International vs. Viterbo | Live Stats
2 p.m. PST Thursday – SOU vs. Columbia International | Live Stats
2 p.m. PST Friday – SOU vs. Viterbo | Live Stats
LIVE STREAMS | SCOREBOARD | POOL PLAY CENTRAL

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A tournament staple and a dangerous upstart are grouped with Southern Oregon in what appears to be one of the more balanced pools at the final site of the NAIA Volleyball Championships.

Viterbo (Wis.) (31-4), the No. 5 overall seed at the tournament, faces No. 20 seed Columbia International (S.C.) (32-1) on Wednesday at the Tyson Events Center in the first of three Pool E matches, each of which begin at 2 p.m. PST. The No. 12-seeded Raiders (27-6) get the next two, meeting Columbia International on Thursday and Viterbo on Friday.

Twenty-four teams are left standing, and SOU is among them for the fourth time in five seasons. The eight champions of the three-team pools advance to play in Saturday's quarterfinal round. The semifinals are set for Monday, and the championship for Tuesday.

No. 5 VITERBO (31-4)
La Crosse, Wis. | North Star Athletic Association (12-0, 1st)
NAIA Ranking: No. 5
Last 10: 9-1
Longest Streak: W9
Attacking %/Opponents' %: .250/.161
Notable: The V-Hawks have spent the last decade establishing themselves as an NAIA powerhouse. They haven't been outside of the top-10 in the rankings since the 2021 preseason, and their résumé this year includes eight Top 25 victories. They skated through the North Star regular season and tournament behind NSAA Player of the Year Kenzie Winker, a 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter who is on her way to becoming a three-time All-American and shoulders a heavy workload with an average of 4.0 kills per set. Viterbo's other outside hitter, Grace Rohde, averages 3.7 kills, but their teammate, 6-1 middle Jada Mitchell, is easily the most efficient of the group at a .374 attacking average and was named the NSAA Offensive Player of the Year with clips of 2.9 kills and 1.0 blocks per set. They swept Bryan (Tenn.) in the Opening Round, surrendering just 45 points all match.  
Tournament History: The V-Hawks qualified for the tournament for the 11th time in 12 seasons and 10th in a row. They last made it out of pool play in 2019, when they advanced to the semifinal round. They were also in the semis a year earlier after defeating SOU in pool play, but that appearance was vacated due to the use of an ineligible player.

No. 12 SOUTHERN OREGON (27-6)
Ashland, Ore. | Cascade Conference (18-4, 3rd)
NAIA Ranking: No. 12
Last 10: 9-1
Longest Streak: W11
Attacking %/Opponents' %: .252/.140
Notable: If not for a crushing CCC Tournament semifinal loss to No. 7-ranked Corban – a match in which they let slip away a tiebreaking third set that they'd led 24-19 – the Raiders could have entered the final site on a 13-match win streak. That setback aside, they're still playing their best volleyball of the season, were sharp again in a 3-1 Opening Round win over Loyola (La.), and have only lost once to a team outside of the current top-10 in the rankings. Junior right-side Hannah Stadstad has emerged as a legitimate star, bringing 3.0 kills per set and the 10th-best attacking average in the NAIA (.361) to the tournament. She, Marin Mackey and Megan Perry are about to become the only Raider trio in Josh Rohlfing's 17 years as head coach with 300-plus kills apiece in a season (Perry is seven away). And middle Sadie Byrd is an All-America candidate again, averaging more blocks per set (1.5) than all but two players in the NAIA. Their attack's .252 team average – thanks also to the stellar work of first-year setters Vitoria Mattos and Annie Hite – is No. 10 on the national leaderboard, and its balanced nature makes this roster as capable of advancing as any SOU has brought to Sioux City.
Tournament History: The Raiders qualified for the national tournament for the 13th time in team history (all since 2001) and are at the final site for the 12th time. They have gotten out of pool play on three occasions, and in 2018 reached the quarterfinal round for the first time ever. A year later they were in the Round of 16, and in their 2022 return went 0-2 in pool play as the group's bottom seed.

No. 20 COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL (32-1)
Richland County, S.C. | Appalachian Athletic Conference (19-1, 1st)
NAIA Ranking: NR
Last 10: 9-1
Longest Streak: W23
Attacking %/Opponents' %: .293/.109
Notable: The Rams' omission from the Top 25 throughout the season can only be attributed to their strength of schedule, but they ran through the opponents in front of them – starting the season 23-0 and sweeping 19 of those matches. Since the formation of their program in 2018 they've had no problem acquiring top-tier talent, including Kira Rymer Attaway, the two-time Appalachian Player of the Year. A 5-11 right-side hitter, Rymer Attaway will be in the conversation for the national award at 3.5 kills per set and a .399 attacking average, the fourth highest in the NAIA. She and outside hitters Gracen Norris and Hanah Weiss, who add six kills per set, have led the Rams to the top attacking average in the country, and their opponents' average is also among the best. Their only loss was in five sets to Bryan – the same team Viterbo just swept – and they have since dropped just three sets during a nine-match winning streak. They got their first Top 25 win of the season against No. 24 Bethel (Ind.), 3-1, in the Opening Round.
Tournament History: This is the Rams' first appearance at the final site, though they qualified for the tournament each of the previous two seasons. They were swept by Bethel (Ind.) in the 2022 Opening Round and by Eastern Oregon in the 2021 edition.