NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will begin its quest for a National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) title beginning Thursday when the Redbirds play a first-round match versus IUPUI at 3:30 p.m. at UW-Green Bay's Kress Events Center.
Illinois State (21-12) and IUPUI (16-14) will face off at 3:30 p.m., before host Green Bay (15-15) and Bowling Green (17-11) play in the other first-round game at Kress Events Center at 6 p.m. The winners of Thursday's matches will play Friday at 6 p.m.
"We are excited to have earned the opportunity to play in the postseason. Less than one-third of teams are still playing and we are glad to say we are one of them," said Illinois State head coach Leah Johnson. "We will take it one match at a time and do our best to make the Redbird community proud."
Illinois State has limited history against IUPUI, Green Bay and Bowling Green. The Redbirds are 2-0 against IUPUI, posting wins over the Jaguars in 2013 and 2015. Illinois State is also 2-0 against Green Bay (wins in 1988 and 1994) and 2-0 against Bowling Green (wins in 1991 and 1995).
Illinois State earned the Missouri Valley Conference's automatic bid to the NIVC as the league's top team not earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. MVC regular-season and tournament champion Missouri State earned the conference's automatic bid, while Northern Iowa was an at-large selection for the NCAA Tournament.
IUPUI and Green Bay were among 12 at-large selections for the NIVC. Bowling Green earned an automatic berth as the MAC's top non-NCAA Tournament team. Â
Links for live stats for Illinois State matches are available at GoRedbirds.com. More information and a full schedule is available at www.womensnivc.com. Fans can also follow @RedbirdVB on Twitter for live updates and more.
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