The Northern Illinois volleyball team earned an at-large spot in the 2011 NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Sunday, announced live on ESPNU during the tournament selection show.
The Huskies (28-6, 14-2 MAC) will be matched up with Miami (Florida) (25-4, 16-4 ACC) in the Minneapolis Regional on Friday, Dec. 2, at 5 PM CT in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum.
The postseason NCAA appearance will be NIU’s first since 2001 and sixth overall in school history. The only other time the Huskies have received an at-large bid was in 1998.
The body of work that swayed the selection committee to include NIU (28-6, 14-2 MAC) in the tournament’s field of 64 teams was too overwhelming to leave NIU out for the second year in a row. Claiming the Mid-American Conference West Division and regular season championships, the Huskies’ 28 wins are the fourth most in the nation and in school history, and their .818 winning percentage is 20th in the nation. NIU has maintained a top 30 RPI position all year, currently at No. 17, and no team with a 30 RPI or better has ever been left out of the tournament. The Huskies have also received votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll on five occasions this season, including a season-high 15 votes in the last two polls.
Stay tuned to NIUHuskies.com for further information on the Huskies NCAA postseason run.
