After closing out the regular season with nine straight wins, the Pacific volleyball team has been selected to host the first two rounds of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Spanos Center.
The NIVC, which has been revived after its six-year run from 1989-1995, will feature 32 teams with eight hosts for the first two rounds. Joining Pacific in serving as a host for this year’s event will be Georgia, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Colgate, North Texas, Green Bay, and Texas State.
The Tigers will welcome Sacramento State, UC Irvine, and Boise State to campus Tuesday for the First-Round semifinals. Sacramento State and UC Irvine will open tournament play at 4:30 pm. Pacific and Boise State will face off in the nightcap at 7:00 pm. The winners of the two matches will meet on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm in the Spanos Center.
Pacific won nine matches on the back half of their season to snag the program’s best finish since 2014. Leading the way was sophomore outside hitter Emily Baptista, who averages 4.3 points, 3.83 kills, and 1.95 digs per set. Ashlyn Fleming finished regular-season play ranked third in hitting percentage (.351) and sixth in blocks with 1.11 per set. Freshman Hanne De Schrijver and junior Andie Shelton share time at setter with De Schrijver dishing out 7.30 assists/set and Shelton with 4.34 assists/set. Katrin Gotterba leads the Tigers and is third in the WCC with 4.15 digs per set and has a team-best 33 service aces.
The Tigers opponent, Boise State (17-13, 10-8 Mountain West) rode a four-match win streak, all by sweeps, to end the regular season in a tie for third place in the Mountain West Conference.
Tickets for all three matches are now available and can be purchased online by clicking here. To view the full 2017 NIVC Tournament Bracket, click here.
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