By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Officials from the MIAA conference have chosen St. Joseph as the site for this years MIAA Volleyball Championships.
With assistance from the St. Joseph Sports Commission, the historic Civic Arena will be the official site of this season’s championship.
The MIAA is one of the most competitive women’s volleyball conferences in NCAA Division II. with four members ranked in the nation’s top-20 teams including Washburn last year's national runner up;
Civic Arena has hosted a multitude of events in its history, including four NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011).
“The MIAA office and our member institutions are excited to have the 2022 MIAA Volleyball Championship in St. Joseph, Missouri,” said Deputy Commissioner Amber Feldman. “Civic Arena is a venue that has housed a number of big events and NCAA championships and competition over the years and we look forward to the St. Joseph community providing our volleyball student-athletes with a stellar student-athlete experience in November.”
The arena is set to begin a multi millioin dollar renovation that includes seating upgrades, a new scoreboard and scoreres table, as well as resurfacing and new paint work on the court.
“It is an honor to host a MIAA Championship in our community,” said Brett Esely, Director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission. “As part of the St. Joseph Sports Commission’s rebirth at the beginning of this year, our goal is to find the right fits and niches that thrive in our community in which championship volleyball in the heart of the MIAA footprint makes perfect sense. We do hospitality extremely well and look forward to providing a championship experience to the MIAA’s coaches, student-athletes, administrators and fans this November!”
Eight teams will advance to St. Joseph for the 2022 MIAA Volleyball Championship. The championship tournament will begin Thursday, November 10 with the championship match played on Saturday, November 11.
Along with the MIAA Volleyball Championship, Civic Arena is expected to host the 2023 and 2024 Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship, two US Olympics Weightlifting trials, the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, Hillyard Tip-Off Classic, and numerus other events serving the region.