DePaul Selected as Host Site for National Invitational Volleyball Championship
12/1/2024 7:55:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Blue Demons earn second consecutive berth to NIVC
CHICAGO – DePaul volleyball will be one of eight hosts for the first and second rounds of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, as announced by tournament organizers during the live NIVC selection show Sunday evening. The selection marks the first time in program history that DePaul volleyball will host a postseason tournament.
The Blue Demons will host Lindenwood, Omaha, and Toledo in Lincoln Park on Thursday, December 5 and Friday, December 6. Lindenwood and Omaha will face off at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday, with DePaul and Toledo following at 7 p.m. CT. The winners of each match will play each other on Friday, December 6, with first serve slated for 7 p.m. CT. Tickets to all matches can be purchased here.
"We are thrilled to be selected to the NIVC and to represent the BIG EAST and DePaul Athletics in postseason December volleyball on our home court," said head coach Marie Zidek.
"This postseason tournament provides critical growth and development opportunities for our team as we continue our hunt for BIG EAST and NCAA championships in the long-term. In the NIVC, my team can learn how to hold their game for longer by playing in playoff 'one and done' situations, which is invaluable experience as we continue to develop future leaders and build this program. It is an honor to have earned consideration for this tournament as one of the next best 32 teams outside of the 64 taken for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA tournament selects 64 out of 346 NCAA Division I programs that sponsor women's volleyball. That number equates to 18% championship participation opportunity. To put this into context, football has 35 bowl games that include about 70 teams. If you include the playoffs, this number balloons to 82. There are 134 NCAA Division I football teams, meaning 61 percent of the field is provided an opportunity to continue competing and growing their sport. Men's basketball, through its multiple post season tournaments, provides a total of approximately 125 out of 352 total teams, about a 35% participation rate for championship opportunities. Women's basketball provides approximately 148 out of 360 teams a championship experience, which equates to approximately 41%. As you can see, volleyball with all of its exploding growth, lags behind the amount of investment that's being poured in, with a mere 18% of teams having championship access.
The NIVC is a critical tournament that significantly promotes and gives financial resources to the growth of our sport. I am thankful for the leaders at the NIVC to be courageous and generous enough to recognize where volleyball is in time and space so to provide this opportunity and to the athletic administrators and teams that take advantage of it as the next best tournament alongside the NCAA. We have to continue to be positively opportunistic in seizing opportunities for new growth, promotional opportunities for our student-athletes in the NIL space, and financial capital for women's volleyball and women's sports in general. The NIVC provides a unique pathway to do this, and brings the sport's championship access rate to 28%.
We have been talking as a team all year about how women's volleyball is in a movement. While our goal remains BIG EAST and NCAA Championship runs, we will humbly and fiercely hunt a championship experience in the NIVC and be an integral part of supporting this movement, so that we can work towards our sport becoming a bigger target for investment opportunities as well as provide our student-athletes to chase growth opportunities. This team has earned the opportunity to keep playing, and keep playing we will."
The 2024 NIVC features 29 teams. The first and second rounds will be played Dec. 4-8, with the third round slated for Dec. 9-12. The semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 12-14, and the championship match will occur between Dec. 15-18.
2024 represents the seventh iteration of the tournament since it was reintroduced in 2017 by Triple Crown Sports. For more information and the full tournament bracket, visit the NIVC website here.
FOLLOW THE BLUE DEMONS
For all the latest information on DePaul Volleyball, visit DePaulBlueDemons.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Blue Demons on X, Instagram and Facebook.
The Blue Demons will host Lindenwood, Omaha, and Toledo in Lincoln Park on Thursday, December 5 and Friday, December 6. Lindenwood and Omaha will face off at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday, with DePaul and Toledo following at 7 p.m. CT. The winners of each match will play each other on Friday, December 6, with first serve slated for 7 p.m. CT. Tickets to all matches can be purchased here.
"We are thrilled to be selected to the NIVC and to represent the BIG EAST and DePaul Athletics in postseason December volleyball on our home court," said head coach Marie Zidek.
"This postseason tournament provides critical growth and development opportunities for our team as we continue our hunt for BIG EAST and NCAA championships in the long-term. In the NIVC, my team can learn how to hold their game for longer by playing in playoff 'one and done' situations, which is invaluable experience as we continue to develop future leaders and build this program. It is an honor to have earned consideration for this tournament as one of the next best 32 teams outside of the 64 taken for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA tournament selects 64 out of 346 NCAA Division I programs that sponsor women's volleyball. That number equates to 18% championship participation opportunity. To put this into context, football has 35 bowl games that include about 70 teams. If you include the playoffs, this number balloons to 82. There are 134 NCAA Division I football teams, meaning 61 percent of the field is provided an opportunity to continue competing and growing their sport. Men's basketball, through its multiple post season tournaments, provides a total of approximately 125 out of 352 total teams, about a 35% participation rate for championship opportunities. Women's basketball provides approximately 148 out of 360 teams a championship experience, which equates to approximately 41%. As you can see, volleyball with all of its exploding growth, lags behind the amount of investment that's being poured in, with a mere 18% of teams having championship access.
The NIVC is a critical tournament that significantly promotes and gives financial resources to the growth of our sport. I am thankful for the leaders at the NIVC to be courageous and generous enough to recognize where volleyball is in time and space so to provide this opportunity and to the athletic administrators and teams that take advantage of it as the next best tournament alongside the NCAA. We have to continue to be positively opportunistic in seizing opportunities for new growth, promotional opportunities for our student-athletes in the NIL space, and financial capital for women's volleyball and women's sports in general. The NIVC provides a unique pathway to do this, and brings the sport's championship access rate to 28%.
We have been talking as a team all year about how women's volleyball is in a movement. While our goal remains BIG EAST and NCAA Championship runs, we will humbly and fiercely hunt a championship experience in the NIVC and be an integral part of supporting this movement, so that we can work towards our sport becoming a bigger target for investment opportunities as well as provide our student-athletes to chase growth opportunities. This team has earned the opportunity to keep playing, and keep playing we will."
The 2024 NIVC features 29 teams. The first and second rounds will be played Dec. 4-8, with the third round slated for Dec. 9-12. The semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 12-14, and the championship match will occur between Dec. 15-18.
2024 represents the seventh iteration of the tournament since it was reintroduced in 2017 by Triple Crown Sports. For more information and the full tournament bracket, visit the NIVC website here.
FOLLOW THE BLUE DEMONS
For all the latest information on DePaul Volleyball, visit DePaulBlueDemons.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Blue Demons on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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