SIOUX CITY, IA – Action at the final site of the 2025 NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship kicks off on Wednesday with pool play for 24 teams in Sioux City. No. 23-seed LC State opens play in Pool B against No. 2-seed Northwestern (Iowa) on Dec. 3 before a battle with No. 15-seed Aquinas (Mich.) on Dec. 4.

The winner of each of the three-team pools will advance to the quarterfinal round on Dec. 6.

The Warriors last faced Northwestern in 2011 and have matched up with the Raiders twice since 2010. LC State swept Northwestern in non-conference action in 2011, and beat the Raiders in five sets in 2010 in the national tournament. Then-senior Katie (Hinrichs) Palmer had 20 digs in the match.

LC State took on Aquinas in 2015 and defeated the Saints 3-0. The two programs have never met during the national tournament. Northwestern and Aquinas have never faced each other.

No. 2 Seed – No. 3 Northwestern Raiders | 29-3, 16-0 GPAC

Northwestern completed an undefeated conference season to win the GPAC regular season title before winning its third straight tournament title. The Raiders defeated Saint Xaiver (Ill.) in the Opening Round to advance to Sioux City led by 12 kills by Stella Winterfeld and nine blocks by Zavyr Metzger.

Winterfeld was named the GPAC Player of the Year and Metzger earned Defender of the Year honors. Northwestern coach Kyle Van Den Bosch was tabbed GPAC Coach of the Year. Maddy Sampson joined Winterfeld and Metzger as a first-team honoree while Liv Reitsma and Nyah Potthoff were named to the second team. Emma Westphal and Sidney Oostra were honorable mentions.

Metzger leads the NAIA in blocks per set this season (1.96) and has 653 career blocks. Winterfield, a two-time NAIA Attacker of the Week, leads the Raiders with 340 kills and leads the GPAC in kills per set (4.30). Sampson leads the GPAC in attack percentage this season at .353, and the Raiders are ninth in the NAIA as a team at .253.

Under the leadership of Van Den Bosch, Northwestern has made 16 NAIA tournament appearances in 21 seasons, including each of the last nine.

No. 15 Seed – No. 15 Aquinas Saints | 33-5, 20-0 WHAC

Aquinas went undefeated in conference play for the second straight season with a 20-0 record in the WHAC that included 15 sweeps. The Saints earned their second straight conference tournament title with a sweep of (RV) Cornerstone (Mich.), then defeated Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 3-1 in the Opening Round.

The Saints had a trio of players earn individual WHAC postseason honors. Lauren Chioini was voted the WHAC Player of the Year, Bella Hommes was named Libero of the Year and Natalie West earned Newcomer of the Year honors. Chioini is one of the NAIA’s most efficient hitters with 460 kills on a .358 hitting percentage. She added 129 blocks to her all-around impact. Hommes has collected 663 digs for more than 5.1 per set, and West has averaged more than 10 assists per set with 238 digs and 90 blocks.

Cece Pelak joined the three on the All-WHAC First Team as a key contributor to the offense. She leads the team in total points with the help of 464 kills. Nevaeh Baker earned second-team honors with 292 kills and 134 blocks while hitting .345.

No. 23 Seed – No. 18 LC State Warriors | 16-9, 12-8 CCC

The Warriors enter the tournament with a 16-9 overall record after battling through the toughest conference in the NAIA. The Cascade Conference sent a record seven teams to the national tournament this year and had five advance to the final site. LC State finished tied for fourth in the regular season standings behind powerhouses such as No. 1 Eastern and No. 5 Corban (Ore.). No. 16 College of Idaho, No. 18 LC State, No. 19 Bushnell (Ore.), (RV) Northwest (Wash.) and (RV) Walla Walla (Wash.) all made the tournament. The CCC earned five of 15 at-large bids which accounts for one-third of the at-large portion of the field.

The Warriors advanced to Sioux City for the first time since 2011 with a 3-1 victory over Taylor (Ind.) on the road. Senior Abby Beaton led LC State with a career-high 14 kills on a .429 attack percentage and Taylor Boyce added 11. Karissa Lindner put up seven blocks at the net.

The depth of the Warrior lineup will be tested in Sioux City. LC State is led by three-time First-Team All-Cascade Conference outside hitter Juliauna Forgach Aguilar who was second in the CCC in kills per set this season at 4.13 which ranks eighth in the NAIA. She also put together a career season at the net with 67 blocks, which is second-best on the team, and takes an average of 4.55 points per set into the national tournament.

The back row is anchored by Second-Team All-CCC libero Ella Stosich who led the conference in digs per set with season with 4.47. She has the most aces of anyone on the team with 33. Teagan Scott, who earned honorable mention honors, was at the top of the leader board in assists per set with 8.58. She added to her arsenal with 44 kills, 1.84 digs per set and 41 blocks.

Junior middle blocker Lindner, a CCC Honorable Mention honoree, made her name as one of the best defensive players at the net in the NAIA this season with 1.30 blocks per set which ranks 12th in the NAIA. She put up 116 blocks this season with 1.40 kills per set and a team-best .278 attack percentage.

Other threats offensively for LC State include outside hitter Boyce and middle blocker Beaton. Boyce is second on the team in kills per set (3.23) and Beaton is third with 1.59 to go with 61 total blocks.

On the defensive end, the Warriors have relied heavily on the group known as the “Bomb Squad” that includes Stosich, Makenzie Stout, Hannah Dotson, Kadence Moore and Ashlyn Watt. The group of defensive and serving specialists account for 66% of the teams’ digs 81% of the teams’ service aces. Stout is second on the team in both categories with 28 aces and 2.08 digs per set.

THE DETAILS

LC State will face Northwestern on Wednesday and Aquinas on Thursday, both at 2:30 p.m. PT. Warrior Athletics will hold watch parties for both matches in the Student Union Building (SUB).