Officials Announce 15 Schools Receiving Automatic Berths into 2017 NIVC

Officials for the 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship announced 15 schools that have received and accepted automatic berths into the postseason event.  The complete 32-team field will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 26 around 10 p.m. ET following NCAA Tournament selections.
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“After a nearly 22-year hiatus, we are excited to announce the first 15 schools that have received and accepted an automatic berth into the 2017 event,” said NIVC director Sean Hardy. “We are still waiting on a few other AQ’s from several conferences, but we are excited to see the 32-team field getting closer and closer to reality.”

Conference                School
America East               Albany  
American                     Temple
Big Sky                        Sacramento State
Colonial                       College of Charleston
C-USA                         North Texas
MAC                            Bowling Green
MEAC                         Maryland Eastern Shore
Mountain West            Wyoming
Northeast                    Bryant
Ohio Valley                 SIUE
Southland                   Stephen F. Austin
Summit                       Oral Roberts
Sun Belt                      Texas State  
SWAC                         Alabama A&M
West Coast                 Pacific  

The 2017 tournament will consist of 32 teams with participating schools hosting all matches.  A team is offered an automatic berth by the NIVC when it’s the highest-finishing team in its conference regular-season standings, and is not selected for the NCAA Tournament.  Should a conference’s automatic qualifier team decline the NIVC invitation, then the conference forfeits its AQ spot and that berth goes into the at-large pool.