Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State has accepted a bid to participate in the 2023 National Invitational Volleyball Championship, marking a second consecutive appearance in the postseason tournament.
Wichita State (21-8, 15-4 American) will host the first and second rounds at Charles Koch Arena, opening play on Thursday, November 30 against Arkansas State (16-14, 5-11 Sun Belt) at 6:00 pm. On the other side of the pod, Tulsa (17-14, 10-9 American) and Kansas City (22-8, 12-4 Summit) will play Thursday at 3:30 pm, with the two winners meeting at 1:30 pm on Friday, December 1.Tickets for the opening round matches can be purchased HERE.
The NIVC field is comprised of 32 teams, including both at-large teams and teams selected as automatic qualifiers by virtue of being the highest-finisher in its conference's regular-season standings that did not go to the NCAA Tournament. Wichita State is The American's automatic qualifier, having finished second in the conference behind SMU. Six American Athletic Conference teams made the field: Wichita State, Tulsa, South Florida, East Carolina, North Texas and Florida Atlantic.
All matches, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools. The Shockers are one of eight host schools for Rounds 1 and 2, joining Drake, Sacramento State, Northern Colorado, St. John's, East Carolina, UTEP and Middle Tennessee State. Every round is single elimination.
Wichita State enters the postseason with 21 wins, their most in a season since the 2017 campaign. This will be the Shockers third trip to the NIVC; WSU was eliminated in the opening round last season by Grand Canyon and went 1-1 in 2018, defeating Central Arkansas in five sets before falling to host North Texas in four.