FORT COLLINS, Colo., November 26, 2023 – After an impressive turnaround season and an American Athletic Conference East Championship, the University of South Florida volleyball team (19-11, 13-6 AAC) earned the program’s fourth bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
South Florida will travel to the campus of St. John’s to go head-to-head with Buffalo Bulls on Friday, December 1 at 4 p.m. The Bulls will play the winner of the St. John’s-Howard match on Saturday, December 2 at 5 p.m.
The full bracket can be found here.
The National Invitational Volleyball Championship has its roots in another NCAA Division I event that ran for several years before the turn of the century.
The Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship debuted in 1989, with 20 teams, in response to demand for another postseason opportunity within the sport. Administrators at smaller but competitive programs like Western Kentucky, Alabama-Birmingham, and Eastern Kentucky did the introductory work of gauging interest and building a format. The teams played at one site, in four five-team pools, with each pool winner advancing to a single-elimination bracket. After two years, the event was renamed the NIVC.
About USF Volleyball
Head coach Jolene Shepardson enters her fourth season at the helm of her alma mater in 2023. Named head coach on Jan. 8, 2020, Shepardson led the Bulls’ program to its last conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance as a student-athlete in 2002. USF made its last postseason appearance in 2018, posting 20 wins and appearing in the NIVC. USF Volleyball has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances and won 12 conference titles since its inception in 1972. The Bulls play in The Corral (1,000), adjacent to the Yuengling Center on the USF campus.
Be sure to follow USF women’s volleyball on social media (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
– #GoBulls –
