NAIA 2024

[Volleyfan024]

Still waiting for the reason that Masters didn’t win yet are still the real National Champions…

[photogirl]

Congrats to Issac Seltzer for earning sportsman of the year! He routinely called touches on himself, as he has the last few years. Great player and great young man.

Also, congrats to the five (why only five?) members of the all tournament team
Andres Velez from Saint Xavier
Landon Krause from William Penn
Patrick Paragas from The Masters
KacperDobrowolski from Georgetown
MVP- Krzysztof Kowalski from Georgetown

[ndodge]

So did I see right that the finals had been in Des Moines and then this year in Cedar Rapids of course. How is the site chosen and how far in advance typically ?

[photogirl]

May 4, 2024 22:19:03 GMT -5 ndodge said:

So did I see right that the finals had been in Des Moines and then this year in Cedar Rapids of course. How is the site chosen and how far in advance typically ?

Des Moines (Grand View) had bid in the finals and hosted them the last few years. Mount Mercy won the bid process to bring them to Cedar Rapids and if my memory is correct, it was announced around mid June last year.

Mount Mercy is also hosting next year. After talking to a member of the championship committee for a while, I expect next year will be better publicized as they try to draw in more fans.

[franknvb]

May 4, 2024 22:08:59 GMT -5 Volleyfan024 said:

Still waiting for the reason that Masters didn’t win yet are still the real National Champions…

Huh?

[Badger Alum]

Congratulations to Georgetown.

I was surprised at how dominant they were. It wasn’t much of an entertaining match like they were the day before. There’s a lot of talent on that court. Kowalski was an absolute beast! Best player in the tournament. The Masters did not have an answer for how big the Georgetown block was.

Very entertaining tournament. I’d liked all the upsets and five set matches.

I really wish men’s volleyball got better television coverage. They provide a very entertaining product.

[volleydude8]

May 4, 2024 21:24:25 GMT -5 doubleduckeddave said:

May 4, 2024 19:59:39 GMT -5 chicagovolley said:

Congrats to Georgetown, all their players deserved that win and it will be a huge loss for NAIA to graduate so many good players.
Same with the guys from Masters, we will see if Zeo Meyer from OUAZ could be a good replacement for Patrick Paragas who graduates.

you think Zeo will be going to his 4th school next year?

Zeo walked in OUAZ senior night so I assume he’s done, also not sure what his eligibility looks like transferring from NCAA to NAIA. Rumor has it he’s attempting to go pro but just a rumor

[nslot]

Final Take on How the Conferences performed in the National Tournament any clear loser or winner in your eyes?

Golden State Athletic Conference - 3 Teams - 4-4 (2 wins over HOA, 1 Wins over Great Plains. 1 Win over WHAC) ( 2 Losses to Mid South, 1 Loss to AAC, 1 Loss to Heart)
Heart of America - 3 Teams 2-5      (1 Win over GSAC, 1 Win AAC) (1 Loss to the Great plains, the Cal PAC, Chicago land, 2 Losses to GSAC) 
Great Plans  1-1             ( Win over HOA, Lose to GSAC) 
Chicago Land 2-1        (Win over HOA, Win over Cal Pac) (1 Loss to Mid South) 
Mid South 4-0             (2 Wins over GSAC, 1 Win over WHAC and Chicago land) 
AAC 1-1                      ( Win GSAC , Loss to Heart) 

Also Ottawa is an associate Memeber of the Heart next year so they will be at 12 teams will have two auto birth plus a host birth theoretically

[BigTenVball]

May 4, 2024 22:19:03 GMT -5 ndodge said:

So did I see right that the finals had been in Des Moines and then this year in Cedar Rapids of course. How is the site chosen and how far in advance typically ?

It is a bid process. Teams and Cities (Convention Bureaus) put in a bid. Usually includes cost of hotel rooms (discounted) cost of venue (again, discounted depending on area) proximity and size of airport, number of rooms around, restaurants, social areas, entertainment....
Then NAIA chooses. A lot of it is how much it costs NAIA. Remember, to get a convention center and rooms in big cities....$$$$!

[photogirl]

NAIA all Americans announced. Crazy stat with this is that 14 are from USA and 13 are International. Really shows how International is impacting the college volleyball scene.

Patrick Paragas from The Master's is Player of the Year and Jared Goldberg is Coach of the Year

www.naia.org/sports/mvball/2023-24/Releases/AA

[photogirl]

My recap of the teams at the 2024 NAIA National Championship tournament

Teams that met or exceeded expectations:

#5 William Penn- (4 AVCA/ 2 NAIA All Americans)- Made it to their first national semifinal and came close to the upset before losing in 5. Brought a loud crowd. Losing 3 Sr. All Americans.

#6 Saint Xavier- (3 AVCA/ 2 NAIA All Americans)- Made it out of pool play and to the national semifinal before losing in 5 to Georgetown. Their best players were not seniors so I would expect them to be able to build on this finish and be one of the favorites next year.

#7 Georgetown- (3 AVCA/ 2 NAIA All Americans)- Got out of pool for the first time in school history, and then won their first National Championship. Doesn’t get any better than that.

#8 Jamestown- (1 AVCA/ 1 NAIA All Americans)- Made it to Nationals again, but still has not been able to get out of pool play. They did take Masters to 4 and played some great defense. Not sure what they are going to look like next year with pending move to D2.

#10 Lawrence Tech- (0 AVCA/ 0 NAIA All Americans)- Went 0-2 but making it to the National tournament for the first time is a huge accomplishment.

#11 Westcliff- (1 AVCA/ 0 NAIA All Americans)- Made their first ever tournament appearance and pulled off a day one upset of #3 Grand View. Something to build off.

#12 Reinhardt- (2 AVCA/ 1 NAIA All Americans)- Made it to their first ever tournament, went 29-2 and pulled off an upset of #4 OUAZ, plus took Saint Xavier to 4. Very successful season to build off of and their best players were only Sophomores.


Disappointing showings:

#1 Masters- (6 AVCA/ 6 NAIA All Americans)- Made it to their first ever final, which is a big accomplishment. Getting swept in the finals as the tournament favorites and with 6 All Americans, POY and Coach of the Year can’t be anything but disappointing.

#2 Vanguard- (3 AVCA/ 2 NAIA All Americans)- Defending champion and one of the pre-tournament favorites. Lost a tough 5 setter to eventual champion Georgetown. Maybe the heavy offensive reliance on one player caught up with them. Moving to NCAA D2 next year.

#3 Grand View- (2 AVCA/ 2 NAIA All Americans)- Failed to advance out of pool for the second straight year. Lost both matches and was never really in the match against Saint Xavier. Wonder if the dynasty is over.

#4 OUAZ- (3 AVCA/ 3 NAIA All Americans)- Lost both matches in pool play after being ranked in the top 3-4 for most of the season and with 3 first team All Americans. Losing coach, so not sure where this program will be at next year.

#9 Mount Mercy- (0 AVCA/ 1 NAIA All Americans)- Made their first tournament appearance, but it was via the Host Bod. Lost both matches and didn’t bring out the large crowds that I was expecting.

I thought Cedar Rapids did a great job with this tournament and it was much better then when it as on the Grand View campus, Downtown Des Moines or the Rec Plex in West Des Moines. It felt more like a championship with a venue to match. It was also nice to have all the teams staying at an onsite hotel and you could tell that they were following matches even when not in the arena, because they would start to come down to take in close matches or when upsets looked possible. This did not occur the past tournaments. I was disappointed with the crowd sizes, as I expected more of the community to come out to watch and even more for the Mount Mercy and William Penn matches. They didn’t pull in the crowds that Grand View did in their championship runs.

Now onto the Coach of the Year award. I am very disappointed that Jared Goldberg won. He was the coach of the top team going in and had 6 All Americans on his roster, including the Player of the Year. Seems like they picked the “Coach of the Best Team”. Maybe he should have won, “Best Recruiter” as he probably was the last couple of years. IMO, he deserved COY in 2023 by taking a team that finished 2022 ranked 15th to the number one ranking at times throughout the year.

I am a more of a fan of coaches winning the Coach of the Year award when they far succeeded expectations. Eric Snyder of Campbellsville taking a team that have never been ranked to the number 1 ranking before Covid ended the 2020 season was deserving. Kyle Shondell winning in 2022 after creating a nationally prominent program at Indiana Tech was deserving. For 2024, I think Reinhardt’s Brian Goodhind should have won (even though it didn’t look like he weas at Nationals). He took a team that was ranked 22nd at the end of 2023 to a 29-2 record and a National Championship appearance.

[chicagovolley]

I think coach of the Year should be the Bald Gremlin from Georgetown.

[floridasun]

Any notable transfers in the naia world yet?

[gofaster88]

Has anyone filled the job openings in AZ at Ottawa and BenU? You would think they want someone in place to recruit before AAU Nationals.

[photogirl]

May 14, 2024 18:13:37 GMT -5 floridasun said:

Any notable transfers in the naia world yet?

Only two I have heard of are both transferring to Saint Xavier. Avery Chick, Libero from Bethel and Xavier York, setter from Jamestown. Not sure the inpact they will have.

Also, we should be done with all the Covid seniors so easier to “guess” who is coming back from current rosters.