Westmont College Athletics

By Ron Smith
November 12, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball, ranked 15th in the NAIA, has received an at-large berth in the NAIA National Championship. The berth comes with a bye in the opening round.
 
"We are so excited to make it back to Sioux City for the National Tournament," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "It's such a great reward for our hard work and resilience as a program. There was a moment in the middle of this season when the outcome was questionable, but we made a decision to keep fighting and put our destiny back in our hands. This is the cherry on top of an already fulfilling season."
 
The championship field consists of 44 teams, 24 of which will compete in opening round matches this Saturday, November 17 at campus sites around the country. The field consists of 33 automatic qualifiers, 10 at-large selections and the host institution, which is Morningside (Iowa).
 
The 12 opening round winners advance to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa. Those winners will be joined by 19 teams which received at-large berths and the host. Final site play, which begins on Tuesday, November 27, is held at the Tyson Events Center.
 
The field of 32 at the final site is divided into eight pools of four teams each according to seeding. Assignment to pools will not be determined until after opening round play is complete. Pool play will begin on Tuesday, November 27 and extends through Thursday, November 29.
 
The top-two teams out of each pool will advance to a 16-team, single-elimination bracket. The opening round of bracket play begins Friday morning, November 30 with the quarterfinals conducted later that day. Semifinals and finals are played on Saturday, December 1.
 
This marks the 12th time Westmont Volleyball has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament, including each of the last two years. The Warriors' best finish in the national championship was third place in 1993. The last two seasons, Westmont has been a quarterfinalist. The Warriors have a 29-23 record in national tournament play.