RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics learned on Sunday that the volleyball team is set to host first and second round matches of the Women's National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) starting on Friday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
The Vaqueros (25-6) will face the Houston Christian Huskies (23-10) in the first round with the match starting at 7 p.m. Additionally, South Dakota State (17-14) and Louisiana (15-12) will face off in the 4 p.m. match with the winners moving on to the second round on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Tickets for the matches will go on sale on Monday at 11 a.m. at UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag.
 
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.


 
The 2022 NIVC features 32 teams with eight host schools and matches starting on Dec. 1 and the championship match is slated for Dec. 11, 12, or 13. 
 
This is the fifth 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 UNLV (2021), Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017).
 
UTRGV competed at Arizona in the NIVC last season and previously participated in the postseason in 2016 with an NCAA Tournament match at Texas.
 
2022 Automatic Qualifiers:
*Alabama State (Southwestern Athletic Conference) -- 20-14
*Binghamton (American East Conference) – 17-8
*Coppin State (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) -- 23-10
Davidson (Atlantic 10 Conference) -- 20-10
Drake (Missouri Valley Conference) -- 26-7
*Houston Christian (Southland Conference) – 23-10
*Liberty (Atlantic Sun Conference) – 23-8
Ohio (Mid-American Conference) – 19-11
Omaha (Summit Conference) -- 20-10
Portland State (Big Sky Conference) -- 18-12
Santa Clara (West Coast Conference) – 12-18
*UT Martin (Ohio Valley Conference) -- 22-11
*UT-Rio Grande Valley (Western Athletic Conference) – 25-6
Xavier (Big East Conference) – 19-11
* -- denotes regular season conference champion 
 
2022 At Large Qualifiers:
Boston College (Atlantic Coast Conference) – 19-13
Buffalo (Mid-American Conference) – 19-13
Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference) – 20-11
Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference) – 13-17
Grand Canyon (Western Athletic Conference) – 17-10
Louisiana (Sun Belt Conference) – 15-12
North Dakota State (Summit Conference) – 21-11
Pacific (West Coast Conference) – 16-13
St. John's (Big East Conference) – 19-13
South Dakota State (Summit Conference) – 17-14
Southern Miss (Sun Belt Conference) – 18-11
Toledo (Mid-American Conference) – 18-12
Troy (Sun Belt Conference) – 18-12
Valparaiso (Missouri Valley Conference) – 22-10
Wake Forest (Atlantic Coast Conference) – 16-13
Weber State (Big Sky Conference) – 17-11
Western Carolina (Southern Conference) – 18-12
Wichita State (American Athletic Conference) – 18-12
 
In bracket order, here are the matchups, locations, and match times for Rounds 1 and 2 (designated home team listed second):
 
at Portland State, Dec. 2
Pacific (16-13) vs. Omaha (20-10), 7 p.m. ET
Santa Clara (12-18) vs. Portland State (18-12), 10 p.m. ET
Dec. 3: Winners, 10 p.m. ET
 
at Wichita State, Dec. 4
Weber State (17-11) vs. Drake (26-7), 2 p.m. ET
Grand Canyon (17-10) vs. Wichita State (18-12), 4:30 p.m. ET
Dec. 5: Winners, 6:30 p.m. ET
 
at UT Rio Grande Valley, Dec. 2
Louisiana (15-12) vs. South Dakota State (17-14), 5 p.m. ET
Houston Christian (23-10) vs. UTRGV (25-6), 8 p.m. ET
Dec. 3: Winners, 3 p.m. ET
 
at Wake Forest, Dec. 2
Davidson (20-10) vs. North Dakota State (21-11), 3 p.m. ET
Coppin State (23-10) vs. Wake Forest (16-13), 6 p.m. ET
Dec. 3: Winners, 4 p.m. ET
 
at Boston College, Dec. 2
Buffalo (19-13) vs. Boston College (19-13), 4 p.m. ET
Binghamton (17-8) vs. St. John's (19-13), 7 p.m. ET
Dec. 3: Winners, 4 p.m. ET
 
at Ohio, Dec. 1
Xavier (19-11) vs. Central Michigan (20-11), 5 p.m. ET
Valparaiso (22-10) vs. Ohio (19-11). 7:30 p.m. ET
Dec. 2: Winners, 6 p.m. ET
 
at Liberty, Dec. 3
Western Carolina (18-12) vs. Liberty (23-8), 1 p.m. ET
Clemson (13-17) vs. Toledo (18-12), 4 p.m. ET
Dec. 4: Winners, 1 p.m. ET
 
at Troy, Dec. 1
Alabama State (20-14) vs. Southern Miss (18-11), 4 p.m. ET
UT Martin (22-11) vs. Troy (18-12), 7 p.m. ET
Dec. 2: Winners, 6 p.m. ET
 
"We sensed from conversations ahead of Selection Day that dozens of teams were interested in the 2022 NIVC, and we're thrilled to welcome another potent mix of programs from around the country," said NIVC director Jared Rudiger. "The depth of talent in D-I volleyball continues to amaze, and we are proud to be a forum for all these teams that have earned respect and that crave a postseason championship chase."
 
About Triple Crown Sports 
Based in Fort Collins, CO., Triple Crown Sports has been producing youth, high school and college events for 40 years. TCS runs both the preseason and postseason WNIT basketball events and produces the men's and women's DI Cancun Challenge tournaments in November. Triple Crown is also powering "WNIT" concept events in D-I softball (NISC) and volleyball (NIVC), with those two events debuting in 2017. Triple Crown's PV College Challenge features two sessions of top-level DI college softball teams in the country each year in Puerto Vallarta, MX, helping to kick off the season in February.

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