NCCAA Div. I National Volleyball Tournament Preview
Welcome to St. Paul, Minnesota, home of the 2007 National Christian College Athletic Association National Volleyball Championship. This year’s field features eight teams, all of which have their eye on one prize – a national championship. Five of this year’s teams have won the NCCAA Title at least once in the Association’s history.

Coming into this weekend’s tournament as the No. 1 seed is Indiana Wesleyan University. The Wildcats boast a 33-8 season record, which could spell disaster for the other three teams in Pool A. Before IWU’s loss to Madonna in the NAIA region final, they hadn’t lost a match since October 20th.

Second-seeded Bethel College (Ind.) will head up Pool B, backed up by their 29-12 record. If the Pilots reach the NCCAA Tournament’s semi-final round, they could face off against Indiana Wesleyan, a team they have played three times in 2007 – all of which have resulted in losses. Bethel would love a fourth shot at IWU though, and will play their way through pool play on Thursday and Friday in hopes of advancing to Saturday.

Joining the tournament field this year is The Master’s College from Santa Clara, California. The Mustangs are one of two teams in the NCCAA finale that have a losing record at 15-18, but don’t be surprised if and when they advance to the semifinals. TMC is a member of the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC), an NAIA conference that features some of the toughest teams in the nation.

Rounding out the field’s top four seeds is Southwestern Assemblies of God University from Waxahachie, Texas. At 26-12 this season, the Lions return to St. Paul after an appearance in the 2005 event.

Bryan College (Tenn.) enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed with a 23-15 record. Bryan is another team who lost in their NAIA region final, falling to UV College at Wise in a 3-2 final after defeating them twice during the regular season.

Seeds 6 and 7 aren’t familiar territory to Cedarville University (Ohio) and Palm Beach Atlantic University (Fla.), seeing as though the last three years of NCCAA Tournaments have been dominated by these two teams. The Yellow Jackets and Sailfish dueled it out in last year’s championship match, with Cedarville claiming their second straight NCCAA Title in a 3-0 win. With last year’s tournament MVP in Sarah Zeltman, Cedarville enters this year’s event with a 24-12 record. At 15-16, Palm Beach Atlantic has had a more difficult year than in seasons past, but the Sailfish still have the capability to run the table and compete for this year’s championship.

Rounding out the tournament field is eighth seed and tournament host Northwestern College. The rising Northwestern squad that features a host of sophomores enters the tournament with a 21-12 record The Eagles were Upper Midwest Athletic Conference champions this year, and have been a part of each of the last three NCCAA Championships as the host institution.