UTEP volleyball to play Tulsa in NIVC game that marks first postseason bid

Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times
·2 min read

UTEP's historic volleyball season is heading to uncharted territory.

The Miners' 21-7 season earned them a first postseason bid, as they will play Tulsa on Thursday in Fort Collins, Colo., in the opening match of the 31-team National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The five-year-old tournament is the volleyball equivalent to the WNIT basketball tournament.

More: NIVC tournament selection

If the Miners win, they will play the winner of Houston Baptist-Colorado State on Friday in a regional hosted by Colorado State. UTEP's Thursday game is set for 5 p.m. with a potential Friday game at 7 p.m. Tulsa of the American Athletic Conference finished 14-15 this season.

"This is really exciting," coach Ben Wallis said. "I don't know if our player realize how cool this is, they aren't used to the postseason. This is an up and coming event, a snowball that is picking up a lot of snow. Georgia Tech won this tournament in 2019, they won two games in the NCAA tournament last year. They are a top-10 seed this year.

"That shows where you can go. I think when our players get there and realize the quality of teams, they'll know how special this is."

As the third-place team in Conference USA and the top team in the league not selected to the NCAA tournament, the Miners were one of 10 teams given an automatic bid.

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UTEP was in line to host a four-team regional before a COVID outbreak in the athletic department earlier in the week led it to withdraw its bid to host.

As for Tulsa, "They are a good team in a good conference," Wallis said. "They beat a good team in our conference, North Texas, they beat a good Houston team. They are up and down. We'll be the lower (better) seeded team and expected to win, but they are a good team."

The NIVC is run by the same company, Triple Crown Sports, that manages the WNIT. It began in 2017 before taking off last year for COVID.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP volleyball to play Tulsa in NIVC game; first postseason bid