The NIVC, a postseason 64-team NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament, announced Thursday a list of more than 100 schools contacted to gauge interest in the event.
The NIVC was held for seven seasons (1989-95) as a 20-team event, but the remodeled format this season looks much like college basketball’s Postseason WNIT. Both of those championship events are produced by Triple Crown Sports.
All NIVC matches, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools. Every round is single elimination. The event offers 32 automatic berths, one to each established conference, and 32 at-large berths.
The NIVC field and bracket is announced late on the evening of Sunday, November 26, after the NCAA Tournament field is selected.
More than 110 teams are on the NIVC’s radar and have been contacted. Two have declined the opportunity. The NIVC is committed to offering deserved opportunities to women’s volleyball programs; the event offers teams an opportunity to get more practices in, to experience playoff-atmosphere games, to play in front of passionate fans and to use their NIVC success and experience as a springboard to the next season.
“Many schools have told us they would be interested in hosting NIVC games,” NIVC director Sean Hardy said.“We continue to answer questions about how the NIVC works and urge teams to get their information to us sooner rather than later.
“Our history with the WNIT is coming in very handy as we prepare for the revival of this event.”
The first rounds of the NIVC are November 28-30. The championship match is December 12.
The schools that have been contacted: American Athletic: Cincinnati , SMU, Temple, Tulane, Central Florida America East: Albany, New Hampshire, Stony Brook, UMBC ASUN: FGCU, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb A-10: Dayton, VCU ACC: Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse Big 12: Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia Big East: Butler, Seton Hall, Villanova Big Sky: Idaho, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State Big South: High Point, Radford Big Ten: Iowa , Northwestern Big West: Hawai’i, UC Irvine Colonial: Collegeof Charleston, Hofstra, James Madison, Northeastern, Towson Conference USA: Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss Horizon: Cleveland State, Green Bay, IUPUI, Oakland Ivy League: Harvard, Princeton, Yale Metro Atlantic: Fairfield Mid-American, Ball State, Bowling Green, Miami MEAC: Bethune-Cookman, Maryland Eastern Shore Missouri Valley: Drake, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa Mountain West: Boise State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Wyoming Northeast: Bryant, Central Connecticut, LIU Brooklyn, Robert Morris Ohio Valley: Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, SIUE Pac-12: California Patriot League: American, Army West Point, Colgate, Navy SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M Southern Conference: ETSU, Furman, Wofford Southland: Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Stephen F. Austin SWAC: Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Texas Southern Summit: Denver, Oral Roberts, South Dakota Sun Belt: Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State. West Coast: Gonzaga, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Santa Clara WAC: CSU Bakersfield, NM State, Utah Valley, UT Rio Grande Valley
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