Miami Set to Host First Two Rounds of NIVC
2018 NIVC Bracket
OXFORD, Ohio – For the third consecutive season, the Miami University volleyball team will participate in the postseason as the National Volleyball Invitational Championship extended a bid to the RedHawks Sunday evening. The RedHawks will host first and second round matches on Thursday and Friday. It is the first time Miami has hosted a national postseason volleyball tournament.
Tickets will go on sale Monday morning. Single-day passes will be available for $7 for adults and $5 for youth 17-and-under.
Miami will open the NIVC on Thursday at 8 p.m. against Northern Kentucky. The Norse were 21-9 overall and finished third in the Horizon League with an 11-5 record. Prior to the RedHawks' contest, the other first round match will feature Valparaiso, which went 25-10 overall and finished fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 11-7 record, against Ball State at 5:30 p.m. A team very familiar to Miami this season, the Cardinals went 22-9 and finished third in the MAC with a 12-4 record.
The victors in Thursday's matches will face off in a second round contest on Friday at 7 p.m. in Millett Hall. The winner of Miami's pod advances to the NIVC Third Round against the winner of the Tulane pod (featuring Tulane, Arkansas State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Cal Baptist) at a site and date to be determined.
The NIVC originally existed from 1989-95 to help grow the sport among the college ranks. Miami participated in both the 1991 and 1994 editions, reaching the Final Four in 1991. The NIVC resumed in 2017 as a 32-team single elimination event as the growth of the game in recent years, warranted a secondary tournament for those who did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Courtesy of Miami's Sport Information Department
