Cowgirls Selected to National Invitational Volleyball Championship

LARAMIE, WY. – The Wyoming volleyball team received and accepted an at-large bid to host the first and second rounds of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), the tournament committee announced on Sunday night.

The Cowgirls will take on Utah Valley in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 6:#0 p.m. MT in the UniWyo Sports Complex. Also in the Laramie regional of the tournament are Portland and Northern Colorado, playing at 4 p.m. MT on Thursday. Wyoming will take on the winner of the Pilots and Bears on Friday at 6:30 p.m. MT, should the Pokes advance to the second round of play.

Tickets go on sale on Monday at 10 a.m. MT. Courtside season ticket holders will have until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to purchase their seats before they are released for the general public to purchase. Tickets are $16 for a courtside ticket, $11 for an adult ticket, $6 for a youth ticket, $4 for a student ticket.

Round three is scheduled for Dec. 5-7 with semifinals scheduled for Dec. 7-9 and the championship set for Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. MT.

This year’s selection to the NIVC marks the second-straight year the Cowgirls have earned a spot in the tournament, as the Pokes earned an automatic qualification last season to make the postseason for the first time since 1994.

The 2018 Cowgirls head into the postseason with a 20-10 overall record after recording a 12-6 mark in conference play to finish third. The 20-win season is the program’s fourth in the Chad Callihan era and the first since 2015.

The NIVC is a single-elimination event with all games played at sites of host schools. The NIVC is committed to offering deserved opportunities to women’s Volleyball programs, and the 2018 Postseason NIVC features a full 32-team bracket. The NIVC 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 as a springboard to the next season.

Nov. 29 at Wyoming
Portland (18-12) vs. Northern Colorado (15-13), 4 p.m. MT
Wyoming (20-10) vs. Utah Valley (19-13), 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 30 at Wyoming
Winners, 6:30 p.m. MT