The Sunday Night Spike, a prominent fall feature of the new College Sports Network (CSTV), will air the 6 p.m. Sept. 21 volleyball match between Illinois State and Northern Iowa at UNIs West Gym. The time and date of the match showed up on early Illinois State volleyball schedules differently before the TV scheduled was announced.
A partner in the Sunday Night Spike is the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), a group which has included Illinois State coach Sharon Dingman among its leadership. Dingman likes the TV set-up.
CSTV is committed to volleyball, said Dingman. We (AVCA members) have been working hard for years to get a national TV game-of-the-week format and CSTV is providing that opportunity. Were not only happy that the Sunday Night Spike is starting up, but also that a national audience will get to sample the great Missouri Valley Conference rivalry between Illinois State and Northern Iowa as part of it.
The Panthers and Redbirds have won or shared 19 straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season volleyball titles.
Part of the promotion and the presentation of that match will be a feature story about Redbird volleyball fans, who have a history of showing up in large numbers at Illinois State Universitys Redbird Arena as well as on road trips to places like Northern Iowa. Among those interviewed for the feature was Paulette Johnson, a long-time fan who is part of the Barker GMC family which sponsors the Barker GMC Classic annually at Redbird Arena. The producer is Stefan VanEngen.
The match on CSTV is part of a large-scale electronic media presentation of Redbird volleyball this season. A total of 21 matches are slated for broadcast or webcast on WJBC, AM 1230, the flagship of the Illinois State University sports network and its web affiliate, wjbc.com.
The CSTV series begins Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. with Florida at Stanford, the first of 13 scheduled broadcasts. CSTV is in the process of arranging broadcast agreements with cable systems nationwide. It can be seen on DirecTV Channel 610.
