Ball State University Athletics
NIVC Bound, Women’s Volleyball To Battle MTSU Thursday
November 26, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Ball State women's volleyball saw its season extended Sunday night when it received an at-large bid into the 2023 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) , produced for the sixth time by Triple Crown Sports.
"We're excited to be able to continue to fight together and make a run in the NIVC," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We have a lot of talent on this team and we want to continue to represent Ball State with pride and enjoy competing together as long as possible."
The Cardinals (16-14) open competition in the 32-team event Thursday (Nov. 30) with a 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT first serve at Middle Tennessee (20-9). In Thursday's other first round match at the Alumni Memorial Gymnasium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Clemson (17-13) and Eastern Kentucky (21-8) will square off at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT.
The winners of the two matches will square off at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT on Friday (Dec. 1).
Produced by Triple Crown Sports, this is the 13th overall season for the NIVC and its sixth in its current format. The NIVC was held for seven seasons (1989-95) as a 20-team event and was reestablished in 2017 with a 32-team field. This will be Ball State's second appearance in the event, with the first coming in 2018.
Champions of the current NIVC era include Boston College (2022), UNLV (2021), Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017).
Here is the 32-team field for the 2023 NIVC:
Automatic qualifiers (*- won or had share of regular season conference title):
Buffalo (23-8) – Mid-American*
Citadel (27-3) – Southern*
Drake (22-10) – Missouri Valley
Howard (17-14) – Mid-Eastern Athletic
Sacramento State (21-11) – Big Sky*
St. John's (23-10) – Big East
?South Florida (19-11) – American*
UMKC (22-8) – Summit*
Wichita State (21-8) – American
Winthrop (14-13) – Big South
At-Large Selections:
Arkansas State (16-14) – Sun Belt
Ball State (16-14) – Mid-American
Chicago State (13-8) – Independent
Clemson (17-13) – Atlantic Coast
DePaul (17-14) – Big East
East Carolina (20-10) – American
Eastern Kentucky (21-8) – Atlantic Sun
Florida Atlantic (20-12) – American
Georgia Southern (21-8) – Sun Belt
Middle Tennessee (20-9) – Conference USA
Montana State (21-8) – Big Sky
North Texas (17-15) – American
Northern Colorado (17-11) – Big Sky
Pacific (18-10) – West Coast
South Dakota (18-10) – Summit*
Southern Illinois (20-11) – Missouri Valley
Tulsa (17-14) – American
UNLV (19-12) – Mountain West
UT Arlington (20-10) – Western Athletic
UTEP (21-9) – Conference USA
Valparaiso (18-14) – Missouri Valley
Wyoming (20-9) – Mountain West
In bracket order, here are the matchups, locations and match times for Rounds 1 and 2 (all times ET; designated home team listed second):
Round 1 at Wichita State, Nov. 30
Tulsa vs. UMKC, 4:30 p.m.
Arkansas State vs. Wichita State, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 2:30 p.m.
Round 1 at Drake, Nov. 29
DePaul vs. Southern Illinois, 4 p.m.
Chicago State vs. Drake, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Nov. 30
Winners, 7 p.m.
Round 1 at Sacramento State, Nov. 30
Pacific vs. Montana State, 7 p.m.
UNLV vs. Sacramento State, 10 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 10 p.m.
at Northern Colorado, Nov. 30
Wyoming vs. South Dakota, 5 p.m.
Valparaiso vs. Northern Colorado, 8 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 8 p.m.
at St. John's, Dec. 1
South Florida vs. Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Howard vs. St. John's, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 2
Winners, 7 p.m.
Round 1 at East Carolina, Dec. 1
Georgia Southern vs. Winthrop, 2 p.m.
The Citadel vs. East Carolina, 6 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 2
Winners, 6 p.m.
Round 1 at UTEP, Dec. 1
UT Arlington vs. Florida Atlantic, 7 p.m.
North Texas vs. UTEP, 9:30 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 2
Winners, 4 p.m.
at Middle Tennessee, Nov. 30
Clemson vs. Eastern Kentucky, 4 p.m.
Ball State vs. Middle Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 7 p.m.
ROUND 3
Dec. 5, 6, or 7
SEMIFINALS
Dec. 7, 8, 9, or 10
?
CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 10, 11, or 12
Follow the action at www.womensnivc.com
About Triple Crown Sports
Based in Fort Collins, CO., Triple Crown Sports has been producing youth, high school and college events for 40 years. TCS runs both the preseason and postseason WNIT basketball events and produces the men's and women's DI Cancun Challenge tournaments in November. Triple Crown is also powering "WNIT" concept events in D-I softball (NISC) and volleyball (NIVC), with those two events debuting in 2017. Triple Crown's PV College Challenge features two sessions of top-level DI college softball teams in the country each year in Puerto Vallarta, MX, helping to kick off the season in February.
"We're excited to be able to continue to fight together and make a run in the NIVC," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We have a lot of talent on this team and we want to continue to represent Ball State with pride and enjoy competing together as long as possible."
The Cardinals (16-14) open competition in the 32-team event Thursday (Nov. 30) with a 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT first serve at Middle Tennessee (20-9). In Thursday's other first round match at the Alumni Memorial Gymnasium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Clemson (17-13) and Eastern Kentucky (21-8) will square off at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT.
The winners of the two matches will square off at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT on Friday (Dec. 1).
Produced by Triple Crown Sports, this is the 13th overall season for the NIVC and its sixth in its current format. The NIVC was held for seven seasons (1989-95) as a 20-team event and was reestablished in 2017 with a 32-team field. This will be Ball State's second appearance in the event, with the first coming in 2018.
Champions of the current NIVC era include Boston College (2022), UNLV (2021), Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017).
Here is the 32-team field for the 2023 NIVC:
Automatic qualifiers (*- won or had share of regular season conference title):
Buffalo (23-8) – Mid-American*
Citadel (27-3) – Southern*
Drake (22-10) – Missouri Valley
Howard (17-14) – Mid-Eastern Athletic
Sacramento State (21-11) – Big Sky*
St. John's (23-10) – Big East
?South Florida (19-11) – American*
UMKC (22-8) – Summit*
Wichita State (21-8) – American
Winthrop (14-13) – Big South
At-Large Selections:
Arkansas State (16-14) – Sun Belt
Ball State (16-14) – Mid-American
Chicago State (13-8) – Independent
Clemson (17-13) – Atlantic Coast
DePaul (17-14) – Big East
East Carolina (20-10) – American
Eastern Kentucky (21-8) – Atlantic Sun
Florida Atlantic (20-12) – American
Georgia Southern (21-8) – Sun Belt
Middle Tennessee (20-9) – Conference USA
Montana State (21-8) – Big Sky
North Texas (17-15) – American
Northern Colorado (17-11) – Big Sky
Pacific (18-10) – West Coast
South Dakota (18-10) – Summit*
Southern Illinois (20-11) – Missouri Valley
Tulsa (17-14) – American
UNLV (19-12) – Mountain West
UT Arlington (20-10) – Western Athletic
UTEP (21-9) – Conference USA
Valparaiso (18-14) – Missouri Valley
Wyoming (20-9) – Mountain West
In bracket order, here are the matchups, locations and match times for Rounds 1 and 2 (all times ET; designated home team listed second):
Round 1 at Wichita State, Nov. 30
Tulsa vs. UMKC, 4:30 p.m.
Arkansas State vs. Wichita State, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 2:30 p.m.
Round 1 at Drake, Nov. 29
DePaul vs. Southern Illinois, 4 p.m.
Chicago State vs. Drake, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Nov. 30
Winners, 7 p.m.
Round 1 at Sacramento State, Nov. 30
Pacific vs. Montana State, 7 p.m.
UNLV vs. Sacramento State, 10 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 10 p.m.
at Northern Colorado, Nov. 30
Wyoming vs. South Dakota, 5 p.m.
Valparaiso vs. Northern Colorado, 8 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 8 p.m.
at St. John's, Dec. 1
South Florida vs. Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Howard vs. St. John's, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 2
Winners, 7 p.m.
Round 1 at East Carolina, Dec. 1
Georgia Southern vs. Winthrop, 2 p.m.
The Citadel vs. East Carolina, 6 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 2
Winners, 6 p.m.
Round 1 at UTEP, Dec. 1
UT Arlington vs. Florida Atlantic, 7 p.m.
North Texas vs. UTEP, 9:30 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 2
Winners, 4 p.m.
at Middle Tennessee, Nov. 30
Clemson vs. Eastern Kentucky, 4 p.m.
Ball State vs. Middle Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Round 2, Dec. 1
Winners, 7 p.m.
ROUND 3
Dec. 5, 6, or 7
SEMIFINALS
Dec. 7, 8, 9, or 10
?
CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 10, 11, or 12
Follow the action at www.womensnivc.com
About Triple Crown Sports
Based in Fort Collins, CO., Triple Crown Sports has been producing youth, high school and college events for 40 years. TCS runs both the preseason and postseason WNIT basketball events and produces the men's and women's DI Cancun Challenge tournaments in November. Triple Crown is also powering "WNIT" concept events in D-I softball (NISC) and volleyball (NIVC), with those two events debuting in 2017. Triple Crown's PV College Challenge features two sessions of top-level DI college softball teams in the country each year in Puerto Vallarta, MX, helping to kick off the season in February.
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