UTRGV volleyball to face Arkansas St. in NIVC

UTRGV volleyball is heading to the postseason again.

The Vaqueros secured a spot in the Women’s National Invitational Championship (NIVC). The Vaqueros (16-11) are heading to Nacogdoches for the first and second rounds of the tournament. UTRGV will face Arkansas State (26-5) in Round 1 at 3 p.m. Thursday at host Stephen F. Austin’s Shelton Gym.

Jackson State (19-11) will face the hosting Lumberjacks (23-8) at 6 p.m. Thursday. The winners of those matches will face off in the Super 16 match Friday at 6 p.m. at Shelton Gym.

The NIVC is a single-elimination bracket featuring 29 teams. First- and second-round matches will be played Dec. 4-8 at eight host sites in four-team quads. Great 8 matches will be played at four host sites Dec. 9-12, followed by the Fab 4 matches at two host sites Dec. 12-14.

The championship match will be played between Dec. 15-18 and hosted by one of the participating schools.

This is UTRGV’s third appearance in the NIVC after previously making the tournament in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, the Vaqueros earned the first two postseason wins in program history They hosted the first two rounds in Edinburg and defeated Houston Christian and South Dakota State to reach the Great 8. This is UTRGV’s fourth postseason trip in program history after making the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

UTRGV is led offensively by Ilana De Assis, who averaged 4.03 kills per set, and senior Claudia Lupescu, who averaged 3.68 kills per set during the season. Sophomore Isabella Costantini, who reached at least 60 assists twice during the season. She tallied 66 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi and 60 against Texas Tech. She averaged 11.35 assists per set and has 1,067 for the season.

UTRGV finished fourth in its first year in the Southland Conference. The Vaqueros lost to UIW in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament.

Below is the first round and Super 16 schedule. All times are EST.

 First-round byes: Arizona, Virginia, Wright State

Host: Arizona
Friday, Dec. 6
Weber State vs. Pacific, 2 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 7
TBA vs. Arizona, 8 p.m. ET

Host: 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

Host: 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

Host: 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

Host: Bowling Green
Wednesday, Dec. 4
Binghamton vs. Bowling Green, 7 p.m. ET
Thursday, Dec. 5
Binghamton/Bowling Green vs. Wright State, 8 p.m. ET

Host: 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

Host: Virginia
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. Virginia, 6 p.m. ET

Host: 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

The post UTRGV volleyball to face Arkansas St. in NIVC appeared first on MyRGV.com.