FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The UNC Greensboro volleyball team was selected to compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Tournament Sunday night.
Winners of the Southern Conference regular-season championship, the Spartans will meet North Florida in a match at Troy University on Friday, December 3 beginning at 5 p.m. Also in the same region are Middle Tennessee and Troy.
The two winners will play each other on Saturday, December 4 at 2 p.m.
“Playing in the NIVC tournament is definitely an exciting opportunity for our team,” said head coach Corey Carlin. “Competing in December means you’re in elite company. Very few teams get the chance to extend their season in a national postseason tournament and this team has earned it this year. I’m happy for our players, especially the seniors, who will get at least one more opportunity to compete.”
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 23-7 overall record and 12-4 in the SoCon to earn a share of the regular-season title. The 23 wins are the third most since joining Division I volleyball. Also, with the 23 wins, the Spartans had a 21-game turnaround from the spring. UNCG finished the season leading the conference in hitting percentage (.216), opponent hitting percentage (.161), blocks (2.24), and digs (17.76). Graduate Kayla White earned the title of SoCon Player of the Year after finishing the season with 449 kills, the most in the conference. Gabriela McHugh was selected to the SoCon All-Conference First Team. McHugh led the conference in assists all season and finished with a total of 1,207. After leading his team to one of the best turnarounds in volleyball, Corey Carlin was named the SoCon Coach of the Year.
“Having the opportunity to play in a postseason is big for our program,” said senior Amanda Garvens. “We have only had a national postseason once before. I think this is a great team to be going to the NIVC and can’t wait to play North Florida!”
This will be the third meeting between the Spartans and the Ospreys. UNCG has the two-game lead on North Florida. The last meeting was back on September 5, 2015. The Spartans took the match in straight sets.
This is UNCG’s second trip to the NIVC. The Spartans participated in the 2017 tournament.
After stepping aside last year because of COVID-19 concerns, the National Invitational Volleyball Championship is back, with tournament officials announcing Sunday the 31 teams that will make up the field, along with first-round locations, matchups and game times.
This is the fourth edition of the NIVC since its reboot through Triple Crown Sports; the event previously ran from 1989-95. Previous champions of the current NIVC are Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017).
The 2021 NIVC features Round 1 and 2 action from Dec. 2-5, with Round 3 scheduled for Dec. 6-8. The semifinals will be held Dec. 8-11, and the championship match be played Dec. 12-14.
Automatic Qualifiers:
Arkansas (19-10) – Southeastern Conference
Colorado State (18-10) – Mountain West Conference*
Delaware State (26-4) – Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference*
Houston Baptist (21-8) – Southland Conference
Jackson State (17-13) – Southwestern Athletic Conference*
Pacific (13-16) – West Coast Conference
Sam Houston State (18-9) – Western Athletic Conference*
UConn (21-10) – Big East Conference
UTEP (21-7) – Conference USA
Weber State (20-9) – Big Sky Conference*
*Denotes conference regular season champion
At-Large Teams:
Arizona (16-15) – Pac-12 Conference
Bradley (16-14) – Missouri Valley Conference
Boston College (16-16) – Atlantic Coast Conference
Butler (16-15) – Big East Conference
Chicago State (17-10) – Western Athletic Conference
CSU Bakersfield (18-10) – Big West Conference
Evansville (19-11) – Missouri Valley Conference
Indiana State (18-12) – Missouri Valley Conference
Middle Tennessee (9-11) – Conference USA
New Mexico State (19-9) – Western Athletic Conference
North Carolina A&T (20-10) – Big South Conference
North Florida (24-7) – Atlantic Sun Conference
Portland State (19-10) – Big Sky Conference
Stephen F. Austin (18-9) – Western Athletic Conference
Troy (17-12) – Sun Belt Conference
Tulsa (14-15) – American Athletic Conference
Toledo (19-12) – Mid-American Conference
UNC Greensboro (23-7) – Southern Conference
UNLV (23-9) – Mountain West Conference
Univ. Texas Rio Grande Valley (17-10) – Western Athletic Conference
Valparaiso (22-9) – Missouri Valley Conference