Absent a State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title over the weekend, Illinois States chances for an NCAA Volleyball Tournament bid were nil. Although the Redbirds werent able to earn their 12th bid to the tournament, they can at least lay claim to knowing the field pretty well--seven Redbird opponents accounting for 30 percent of their 2001 schedule will play later this week in volleyballs NCAA first and second rounds.
Missouri Valley champion Northern Iowa (28-1) plays host to Northern Illinois (24-5) in a battle of 2001 Redbird opponents. The winner of that match plays the winner of DePaul (24-8 and another 2001 ISU opponent) vs. Minnesota.
The Redbirds started the season at home against a Louisville team which spent much of the year ranked in the nations Top 25. The Cards (256-6) play host to Georgia Tech in first-round NCAA play. In that same Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena, Illinois State (16-14) recorded a victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which finished 20-7 and plays at No. 6 seed Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament..
The UWM at Wisconsin winner will play the winner of Notre Dame (22-6) vs. Michigan State. The Birds lost a heartbreaking five-game match at Notre Dame just two weeks ago. The Irish have won 20 straight at home.
Another ISU opponent, South Carolina (20-5) will meet North Carolina in a border war first-round match. The Redbirds met USC in a tournament at Miami of Ohio.. Actually, the events of September 11 kept the Redbirdsfrom meeting another NCAA invitee. Illinois States planned match Sept. 14 at Utah. The Utes (23-6) are the No. 14 seed and play host to Texas Tech in the opening round.
Undefeated Long Beach State (28-0) is the No. 1 seed in the oturnament, followed by 27-1 Nebraska, 27-2 Stanford and 22-3 Southern California. The committee seeded the top 16 teams, meaning UNI--winners of four straight Missouri Valley Conference titles--was the final team seeded.
The 2001 field of 64 bears out Illinois States tradition of tough scheduling. The Redbirds have faced 50 of the 64 invitees at least once over the past 30 years. Illinois States aggregate record against those 50 teams in the 2001 NCAA Tournament is 208 wins, 181 losses.
