​BOWLING GREEN 3, WRIGHT STATE 1 (25-18, 13-25, 25-23, 25-17)
 
BOWLING GREEN, OH – Lauryn Hovey rang up 16 kills for Bowling Green as the Falcons moved past Wright State in the Super 16 round of the 2024 NIVC.
 
The Falcons (23-9) advance to the Great 8, with their opponent still to be decided.
 
After splitting the first two sets, with each team winning relatively comfortably, Set 3 was a profound nail-biter – Sydnie Hernandez’s ace gave Bowling Green a 18-15 lead, but things got tied up again at 23-all before the Falcons closed it out on a kill from Jessica Andrews and a game-sealing ace from Isabelle Laube.
 
Set 4 saw the Falcons claim a 17-12 lead on back-to-back kills from Hovey, and another push built the lead to 19-13, prompting a timeout by Wright State (24-7). But there would be no rallying against BGSU.
 
Mia Tyler had 14 kills for Bowling Green; Amanda Otten closed with 41 assists and nine digs, and Hernandez had 15 digs.
 
Sam Ott had 14 kills for Wright State; Reilly Zegunis added 12 kills, Lauren Yacobucci finished with 43 assists and Jenny Morey had 14 digs.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 3, JACKSON STATE 0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-14)

NACOGDOCHES, TX - Playing on its home court in the opening round of the 2024 NIVC, there were no postseason nerves for the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks as they cruised to a sweep over Jackson State to advance to the Super 16. 

The Ladyjacks hit .424 in the opening set to set the tone early for how this night was going to go. As a team, SFA hit .380 in the match. Jackson State was efficient in the first set as well, hitting .320, but were limited to just .063 and -.030 hitting in the second and third sets, respectively.

Katherine Holtman paced the Ladyjacks with 13 kills on .524 hitting and also added two service aces and three blocks. Kennedy Jones also reached double figures with 10 kills, while Kyanna Creecy finished the match with nine kills for SFA. The Ladyjacks were particularly aggressive from the service line and kept Jackson State on its backfoot, serving up nine aces in the match, led by three from Natalie Guerrero, who also had 10 digs.

SFA now takes on Arkansas State tomorrow night in the Super 16 at 7 p.m. ET. 

EAST CAROLINA 3, WINTHROP 1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-19, 25-11)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina (19-9) showed the power of home court advantage, even after a slow start, with an impressive win over Winthrop (16-11) on Thursday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

In what turned out to be a back-and-forth battle in the first set, Winthrop, a squad within one set of an NCAA Tournament appearance, was able to get the early advantage after a 26-24 opening set victory.
 
The Pirates responded in the second set to level the match, with a 25-21 showing. East Carolina, out of the American Athletic Conference, made their second postseason appearance in program history, making it their second-straight season as well.
 
ECU, coming in with a 9-2 regular season record inside the friendly confines of their home court, posted the best single-season home winning percentage (81.8) in program history and that showed the rest of the way, after a 25-19 third set win.
 
The Pirates continued to ride the wave and secured the victory in convincing fashion with a 25-11 win in the fourth and final set of the opening match, locking in the 3-1 final.
 
Avery Jolley led the way for the Eagles, notching 17 kills and 18 points. Isabella Murray had an impressive performance with 39 assists in the match.
 
Carlia Northcross was the catalyst for ECU in their opening win, with .647 hitting and six blocks. Taryn Gilreath was vital on the defensive side, with 15 digs.
 
East Carolina advances to the Super 16 round and will play UConn on Friday at 6 p.m. for the right to advance to the Great 8.

​UTAH VALLEY 3, WASHINGTON STATE 0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-20)
 
LARAMIE, WY – Utah Valley hit .379 overall and led in aces, 7-1, as the Wolverines swept Washington State on Thursday in the opening round of the 2024 NIVC.
 
The Wolverines (21-10) will play Idaho State or host Wyoming in the Super 16 round on Friday.
 
Utah Valley hit .387 in winning the first set as Avery Shewell notched five kills, and the Wolverines were in total command in Set 2, building leads of 5-0, 11-4 and 18-8, getting three straight kills from Shewell to conclude that last burst of points. She also had two aces in the set.
 
Utah Valley controlled the final set, breaking away from an 8-all tie to lead 17-10. Madi Standifird got the kill for the final point of the match.
 
Shewell closed with 12 kills, Sami Blackett had 10 kills and Evalyn Chism came through with 31 assists. Lani Matavao had eight digs and Bella Wooden set a program record for blocks in a season (192).
 
The Cougars (16-12) saw Taryn Vrieling and Sage Brustad each finish with eight kills. Italia Bernal had 16 assists, Jaden Walz added 13 assists and Emma Barnero had nine digs.

OMAHA 3, LINDENWOOD 2 (25-14, 19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13)

CHICAGO, Il - The Omaha Mavericks outlasted the Lindenwood Lions (25-14, 19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13) in a five-set thriller in the first round of the 2024 NIVC.

Omaha took the first set in convincing fashion, 25-14, but Lindenwood came storming back to take the next two sets and take a 2-1 lead over Omaha. But the Mavericks never waved and utilized a 7-0 run in the fourth set to take a 19-13 lead en route to forcing a decisive fifth set. 

Trailing 6-4 in the fifth set, Omaha went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-6 lead and never looked back. The Mavericks were led by junior outside hitter Kali Jurgensmeier who registered 19 kills on .357 hitting along with five blocks. Brynlee Arnold also was efficient for Omaha with 12 kills on .391 hitting, while McKenna Ruch rounded out the scoring for the Mavericks with nine kills and five blocks. 

Omaha will face the winner of DePaul and Toledo in the Super 16 tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET. 

​ARKANSAS STATE 3, UTRGV 1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-13)
 
NACOGDOCHES, TX – Arkansas State bounced back after dropping the first set to win the next three in increasingly dominant fashion, as the Red Wolves topped UTRGV on Thursday in the 2024 NIVC.
 
Arkansas State will play either Jackson State or host Stephen F. Austin in the Super 16 round on Friday.
 
UTRGV took an early 5-1 lead in Set 1, but things were tight for most of the set before kills by Elise Fourt and Nadine Zech and an error gave the Vaqueros a 20-17 lead. UTRGV finished off the set with two kills each from Zech and Perris Key. Arkansas State prevailed in Set 2, which was tied up at 19-all before two kills from Devyn Lewis opened up some breathing room.
 
In Set 3, Arkansas State pulled ahead much earlier, pushing a 10-8 lead to 17-10 on a kill from Haley Glunz and then rolling comfortably the rest of the way. Set4 was more of the same – the Red Wolves took leads of 8-1 and 12-3, both runs capped by kills from Lewis.
 
The Red Wolves (27-5), who earned their first postseason victory since 2018, saw Lewis finish with 10 kills. Erin Madigan and Valeria Ortiz each had 19 assists, Kaitlin Whitlock closed with 10 kills and 18 digs, and Sarah Martinez had 18 digs.
 
The Vaqueros (16-12) got 17 kills from Zech; Claudia Lupescu had 15 kills and 11 digs, and Key closed with 11 kills. Isabella Costantini had 44 assists and 11 digs, Ilana De Assis added 16 digs and 10 kills, and Celianiz Cabranes finished with 22 digs.

UCONN 3, MERCER 0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-12)

GREENVILLE, NC - The Connecticut Huskies looked dominant in their first-round matchup against Mercer in the 2024 NIVC, sweeping the Bears (25-21, 25-19, 25-12) to advance to the Super 16.

As a team, UConn hit .359 with just seven attack errors, while Mercer was limited to just .118 hitting and 19 attack errors. Anna Herman led the Huskies with nine kills on 12 attacks, while Emma Werkmeister also registered nine kills and led the team with two service aces. Taylor Pannell rounded out the attack for Connecticut with eight kills and also led the team with five blocks.

Mercer was led by Skye Ekes, who finished with 13 kills. 

The Huskies will take on the winner of Winthrop and East Carolina in the Super 16 of the NIVC.

BOWLING GREEN 3, BINGHAMTON 1 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-15)
 
BOWLING GREEN, OH – Getting off to early leads paid off nicely for Bowling Green on Wednesday, as the Falcons worked past Binghamton to kick off first-round action at the 2024 NIVC.
 
In Set 1, Bowling Green hit .441 and prevailed even though Binghamton has no attack errors. Two late kills from Jordan Newblatt secured a lead for the Falcons, and Lauryn Hovey finished the set off with a kill.
 
In the second set, Bowling Green took a 10-0 lead but had to fend off multiple charges from Binghamton. Viktoria Dimitrova’s kill for the Bearcats cut the lead to 23-21, but BGSU sealed the set with a kill from Amanda Otten. Set 3 saw Binghamton break through as Tsvetelina Ilieva had two aces to make it 15-all; she finished the set with a kill as well.
 
Set 4 featured another early burst from BGSU, which took an 11-3 lead and held strong, getting two aces from Lauyrn Hovey to move ahead 23-14 and take full control of the match.
 
The Falcons (22-9) saw Mia Tyler notch 14 kills; Hovey had 11 kills and Newblatt finished with 10 kills. Amanda Otten had 38 assists and 11 digs; Sydnie Hernandez closed with 13 digs as Bowling Green hit .290 overall.
 
The Bearcats (19-11), regular-season American East champions, got 38 assists and 11 digs from Lottie Scully. Tsvetelina Ilieva, one of 15 players in Division I to enter the postseason with more than 500 kills, had 21 kills on the night along with 10 digs. Ella Schabort ended up with 12 digs.

​29-team field has eight regional hosts; action begins Dec. 4

FORT COLLINS, CO – The NCAA D-I volleyball postseason picture enjoys added depth again thanks to the 2024 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), as tournament officials have released details on the 29 teams that will take part in the event, produced for the seventh year by Triple Crown Sports.
 
The bracket launches with eight host schools, with action set to begin on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The championship match is scheduled between Dec. 15-18 – all matches are held on campus locations.
 
A total of 11 automatic qualifiers won or had a share of their regular season conference championship, and 14 teams in the field won at least 20 matches this season.
 
“The makeup of the 2024 NIVC field is yet another indicator that dozens of Division-I programs share the hunger to seek out a postseason experience and have the depth of skill to make it a compelling journey,” said NIVC director Jared Rudiger. “We are happy to provide a championship setting where teams can enjoy a significant reward for the hard work and dedication they’ve displayed this season.”
 
The event previously ran from 1989-95; champions of the current NIVC era include Wichita State (2023), Boston College (2022), UNLV (2021), Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017).
 
Here is the 29-team field for the 2024 NIVC:
(AQ – Automatic qualifiers, won or had share of regular season conference title)
 
Appalachian State (18-9) – Sun Belt (co-AQ)
Arizona (20-9) – Big 12
Arkansas State (26-5) – Sun Belt (co-AQ)
Binghamton (19-10) – America East (AQ)
Bowling Green (21-9) – Mid-American (AQ)
DePaul (19-13) – Big East
East Carolina (18-9) – American
Georgia Southern (21-6) – Sun Belt
Idaho State (21-9) – Big Sky
Jackson State (19-11) – Southwest (AQ)
Lindenwood (23-10) – Ohio Valley
Mercer (26-6) – Southern (AQ)
North Carolina A&T (17-10) – Coastal Athletic
Northern Colorado (25-7) – Big Sky (AQ)
Omaha (16-12) – Summit
Pacific (18-12) – West Coast
Stephen F. Austin (23-8) – Southland (co-AQ)
Southeast Missouri State (19-13) – Ohio Valley (AQ)
St. John’s (21-12) – Big East
Toledo (17-14) – Mid-American
UConn (24-7) – Big East (AQ)
Utah Valley (20-10) – Western Athletic
UTRGV (16-11) – Southland
Virginia (21-10) – Atlantic Coast
Washington State (16-11) – West Coast
Winthrop (16-10) – Big South (AQ)
Weber State (14-15) – Big Sky
Wright State (24-6) – Horizon (AQ)
Wyoming (15-12) – Mountain West
 
In bracket order, here are the matchups, locations and match times for Rounds 1 and 2 (designated home team listed second):
 
All times EST
 
First-round byes: Arizona, Virginia, Wright State
 
At Arizona
Friday, Dec. 6
Weber State vs. Pacific, 2 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 7
TBA vs. Arizona, 8 p.m. ET
 
At Wyoming
Thursday, Dec. 5
Utah Valley vs. Washington State, 6 p.m. ET
Idaho State vs. Wyoming, 9 p.m. ET
Friday, Dec. 6
Winners, 8 p.m. ET
 
At Stephen F. Austin
Thursday, Dec. 5
UTRGV vs. Arkansas State, 4 p.m. ET
Jackson State vs. Stephen F. Austin, 7 p.m. ET
Friday, Dec. 6
Winners, 7 p.m. ET
 
At Georgia Southern
Friday, Dec. 6
Northern Colorado vs. Appalachian State, 3 p.m. ET
Southeastern Missouri State vs. Georgia Southern, 6 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 7
Winners, 4 p.m. ET
 
At Bowling Green
Wednesday, Dec. 4
Binghamton vs. Bowling Green, 7 p.m. ET
Thursday, Dec. 5
Binghamton/Bowling Green vs. Wright State, 7 p.m. ET
 
At DePaul
Thursday, Dec. 5
Lindenwood vs. Omaha, 5 p.m. ET
Toledo vs. DePaul, 8 p.m. ET
Friday, Dec. 6
Winners, 8 p.m. ET
 
At Virgina
Saturday, Dec. 7
North Carolina A&T vs. St. John’s, 6 p.m. ET
Sunday, Dec. 8
North Carolina A&T/St. John’s vs. Virgina, 6 p.m. ET
 
At East Carolina
Thursday, Dec. 5
UConn vs. Mercer, 3 p.m. ET
Winthrop vs. East Carolina, 6 p.m. ET
Friday, Dec. 6
Winners, 6 p.m. ET
 
About Triple Crown Sports
Based in Fort Collins, CO., Triple Crown Sports has been producing youth, high school and college events for more than 40 years. TCS runs both the Postseason WNIT basketball event and produces the men’s and women’s DI Cancun Challenge tournaments in November. Triple Crown’s PV College Challenge features more than 10 of the top DI college softball teams in the country each year in Puerto Vallarta, MX. Anchored by the 1,200-team Colorado 4th of July event, TC fastpitch softball tournaments draw the nation’s finest club programs, and hundreds of college coaches attend TCS events for recruiting purposes. TCS produces one of the largest youth baseball events in the world with the 700-team Omaha SlumpBuster during the College World Series. The Triple Crown Volleyball NIT has become the top-recruited club volleyball event in the country each February when 550 teams compete in Kansas City, MO.

​WICHITA STATE 3, UTEP 0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-22)
 
EL PASO, TX – Wichita State thrived in difficult circumstances Tuesday, playing in front of UTEP’s third straight sellout crowd but never blinking as the Shockers posted the sweep and walked away as the champions of the 2023 NIVC.   
 
The Shockers (26-8) hit .292 overall and had two more kills on 22 fewer attacks. The Miners close the season at 25-10.
 
Set 1 saw both teams get off the mark slowly, but Wichita State found traction first and enjoyed a 15-9 lead after a UTEP error and two kills from Sophia Rohling. The Miners tried another timeout when the lead expanded to 18-9, but WSU never wavered, making just three hitting errors in the frame.
 
Set 2 progressed to an 18-all tie, but two UTEP errors and two kills from sophomore Emerson Wilford launched the Shockers in front, 22-18. Wilford also got the kill that finished off the frame.
 
In Set 3, Wichita State again grabbed an important late lead at 22-18. Marian Ovalle pulled the Miners within 23-21, but Wilford had one more kill in her arsenal, as did Morgan Weber, who wrapped up the match. UTEP finished 10 service errors to just three for WSU.
 
Wilford was the only player to reach double figures in kills with 11; Izzi Strand had 29 assists and Gabi Maas came through with 12 digs. For UTEP, Alianza Darley had nine kills – Mattie Gantt dished out 17 assists and Kalia Kohler had 16 assists. Wichita State now leads the overall series 7-2.
 
After the match, the 2023 NIVC all-tournament team was announced:
 
Izzi Strand – Wichita State (MVP)
Gabi Maas – Wichita State
Morgan Stout – Wichita State
Alianza Darley – UTEP
Kaya Weaver – UTEP
Maria Clara Andrade – South Florida
Kira Thomsen – Montana State