{"id":607014,"date":"2017-01-11T00:24:41","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T05:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebloguin.wordpress.com\/?p=607014"},"modified":"2017-01-11T00:24:41","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T05:24:41","slug":"naia-mens-preseason-top-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/","title":{"rendered":"NAIA Men’s Preseason Top 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIA men\u2019s volleyball is relatively unknown when compared to NCAA men\u2019s volleyball, and maybe that\u2019s because the NAIA doesn\u2019t have big names like Ohio State, BYU, UCLA, or USC to carry the NAIA banner. The quality of men\u2019s volleyball found in NAIA is generally equivalent to the quality of volleyball found in NCAA DII and many DI programs. NAIA teams, however, get little recognition when compared to their NCAA counterparts. Last season, however, the NAIA Men\u2019s National Invitational Championship Tournament was broadcast by ESPN on ESPN3, so maybe there\u2019s some hope that NAIA men\u2019s volleyball is starting to get some much deserved recognition.<\/p>\n

Today, the NAIA released its preseason Top Ten, complete with last season records. Two-time defending champion Missouri Baptist starts the season as the favorite followed closely by last year\u2019s runner-up Grand View.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/td>\nSCHOOL<\/td>\nLOCATION<\/td>\n2016 W \u2013 L<\/td>\nSTUDENTS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nMissouri Baptist Spartans<\/td>\nSt. Louis, Missouri<\/td>\n33-1<\/td>\n1,109<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nGrand View Vikings<\/td>\nDes Moines, Iowa<\/td>\n20-8<\/td>\n2,064<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nWarner Royals<\/td>\nLake Wales, Florida<\/td>\n23-7<\/td>\n1,176<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nLourdes Gray Wolves<\/td>\nSylvania, Ohio<\/td>\n25-5<\/td>\n1,546<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nPark Pirates<\/td>\nKansas City, Missouri<\/td>\n21-11<\/td>\n1,078<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nRobert Morris Eagles<\/td>\nChicago, Illinois<\/td>\n31-8<\/td>\n4,500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nClarke Crusaders<\/td>\nDubuque, Iowa<\/td>\n20-11<\/td>\n1,200<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T8<\/td>\nHope International Royals<\/td>\nFullerton, California<\/td>\n13-7<\/td>\n2,012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T8<\/td>\nSt. Ambrose Fighting Bees<\/td>\nDavenport, Iowa<\/td>\n26-9<\/td>\n3,402<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nMissouri Valley Vikings<\/td>\nMarshall, Missouri<\/td>\n12-16<\/td>\n1,369<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

On that note, it’s a really good time to reiterate the purpose of the NAIA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics. Since 1937, the NAIA has administered programs and championships in proper balance with the overall college educational experience. The student-athlete is the center of all NAIA experiences. Each year more than 60,000 student-athletes have the opportunity to play college sports at NAIA member institutions. The seed of the NAIA began in 1937 with the tipoff of a men’s basketball tournament in Kansas City that has become the longest running event in college basketball. Out of the tournament grew the NAIA, an association that has been an innovative leader.\u00a0 The NAIA was the first collegiate athletics association to invite historically black institutions into membership and the first to sponsor both men\u2019s and women\u2019s national championships. In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.\u00a0 In 2010, the association opened the doors to the NAIA Eligibility Center, where prospective student-athletes are evaluated for academic and athletic eligibility. It delivers on the NAIA\u2019s promise of integrity by leveling the playing field, guiding student-athlete success, and ensuring fair competition.\u201d http:\/\/www.naia.org\/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=205323019<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of the 31 schools that will line up for NAIA men\u2019s volleyball in the 2016-2017 season, with three more schools (Judson University, Menlo College, and Webber International University) slated for \u201cfirst serve\u201d in 2017-2018, yielding a grand total of 34 programs for the NAIA.<\/p>\n

1. Benedictine University (Mesa)<\/p>\n

2. Bluefield College<\/p>\n

3. Briar Cliff University<\/p>\n

4. Bryan College<\/p>\n

5. UC-Merced<\/p>\n

6. Calumet College of St. Joseph<\/p>\n

7. Campbellsville University<\/p>\n

8. Cardinal Stritch University<\/p>\n

9. Cincinnati Christian University<\/p>\n

10. Clarke University<\/p>\n

11. Culver-Stockton College<\/p>\n

12. Dordt College<\/p>\n

13. Graceland University<\/p>\n

14. Grand View University<\/p>\n

15. Hope International University<\/p>\n

16. Lawrence Technological University<\/p>\n

17. Lindenwood University (Belleville)<\/p>\n

18. Lourdes University<\/p>\n

19. Missouri Baptist University<\/p>\n

20. Missouri Valley College<\/p>\n

21. Morningside College<\/p>\n

22. Mount Mercy University<\/p>\n

23. Ottawa University<\/p>\n

24. Park University<\/p>\n

25. Robert Morris University<\/p>\n

26. Saint Xavier University<\/p>\n

27. Siena Heights University<\/p>\n

28. St. Ambrose University<\/p>\n

29. St. Andrews University<\/p>\n

30. Trinity Christian College<\/p>\n

31. Warner University<\/p>\n

As I said earlier, no names here like Ohio State or Stanford, but the education and life lessons learned at these 34 schools is outstanding and the volleyball is superb.<\/p>\n

LET\u2019S GROW VOLLEYBALL (and the athletes, too)!<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIA men\u2019s volleyball is relatively unknown when compared to NCAA men\u2019s volleyball, and maybe that\u2019s because the NAIA doesn\u2019t have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[547149048],"tags":[292164574,23033116,38413500,5268009,605038638,25930646,15322052,2906152,51194892,6087606,26623754,4260778,38927049,5650218,2884203,240829171,81009085,56467357,3028294,6907405,8864975,27694970,41131944,1557677,9202657,7933184,5173979,23696017,7738962,1205699,15320904,13252732,292036,13235909,25228053],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNAIA Men's Preseason Top 10 - The Sports Daily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NAIA Men’s Preseason Top 10\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Sports Daily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-11T05:24:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Draper\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5\"},\"headline\":\"NAIA Men’s Preseason Top 10\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-11T05:24:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-11T05:24:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Benedictine University (Mesa)\",\"Bluefield College\",\"Briar Cliff University\",\"Bryan College\",\"Calumet College St. Joseph\",\"Campbellsville University\",\"Cardinal Stritch University\",\"Cincinnati Christian University\",\"Clarke University\",\"Culver-Stockton College\",\"Dordt College\",\"Graceland University\",\"Grand View University\",\"Hope International University\",\"Lawrence Technological University\",\"Lindenwood University (Belleville)\",\"Lourdes University\",\"men\u2019s college volleyball\",\"men\u2019s volleyball\",\"Missouri Baptist University\",\"Missouri Valley College\",\"Morningside College\",\"Mount Mercy University\",\"NAIA\",\"Ottawa University\",\"Park University\",\"Robert Morris University\",\"Siena Heights University\",\"St. Ambrose University\",\"St. Andrews University\",\"St. Xavier University\",\"Trinity Christian College\",\"UC-Merced\",\"Warner University\",\"Webber International University\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Net Set Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2017\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/naia-mens-preseason-top-10\/\",\"name\":\"NAIA Men's Preseason Top 10 - 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