ISU volleyball receives NCAA at-large bid, Illini number 3 national seed

Posted on November 25, 2018
ISU Volleyball celebration
Illinois State volleyball is in its second season under head coach Leah Johnson. (GoRedbirds.com)

By Greg Halbleib

NORMAL – Illinois State volleyball will make its 14th NCAA appearance after receiving an at-large bid.

The Redbirds, co-champions of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and runner-up in the league tournament, received the program’s fourth at-large bid Sunday night. Illinois State (25-7) will face Cincinnati (25-7) at 4:30 p.m. Friday in first round play in Milwaukee. The Redbirds are 3-13 all-time in the NCAA tournament and have advanced to the second round on three occasions, most recently in 2014.

Northern Iowa (24-9) earned the MVC’s automatic berth in the tournament with the Panthers’ four-set win over the Redbirds in Saturday’s conference tournament final in Springfield, Mo. UNI will face Pepperdine (21-8) in a first round match at 5 p.m. Friday in Madison, Wis.

Illinois (28-3) is the nation’s third seed and will host first and second rounds at Huff Hall. The Illini will take on Eastern Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected]. 

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