East Carolina Earns At Large Bid To 2023 NIVC

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina volleyball team will experience postseason play for the first time in program history as it has earned an at-large bid to the 2023 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) according to an announcement by the event Sunday evening.

The Pirates are slated to host the first and second rounds of the NIVC, welcoming The Citadel, Georgia Southern, and Winthrop to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Dec. 1-2. ECU will face the Southern Conference regular season champion Bulldogs in the first round Friday at 6 p.m. with the winner taking on Georgia Southern or Winthrop Saturday at 6 p.m. for the right to advance to the quarterfinals.

ECU (20-10) produced its first 20-win season since 2017 and just the fifth in school history with a 3-1 win at UTSA in the regular season finale. The Pirates finished 11-8 in American Athletic Conference play, marking the second time it has recorded double-digit league victories since joining the conference (13-7 in 2017). East Carolina also notched its first road win over a Power Five program since 2019, downing Virginia Tech in five sets in Blacksburg back on Sept. 16.

The Citadel (27-3) went 14-2 in SoCon play to earn the regular season championship before falling to Samford in three sets in the conference tournament semifinals. Greenville native Ali Ruffin was tabbed the league's Player of the Year while Belle Hogan earned Setter of the Year accolades and Jaelynn Elgert was selected the Libero of the Year. The Bulldogs boast six all-conference honorees in total.

Georgia Southern (21-8) posted a 10-6 record in the Sun Belt Conference before bowing out in the conference tournament semifinals to South Alabama in three sets. Reagan Barth was named to the all-conference first team after leading the Eagles in kills, kills per set, points, points per set, aces and aces per set.

Winthrop (14-13) finished second in the Big South Conference standings with a 12-2 record and advanced to the league tournament championship match where it fell to High Point 3-2. The Eagles put six players on the Big South All-Conference Teams, including first-team selection Brookelynn Thomas who ended up second in the league in points and fourth in hitting percentage.

East Carolina holds a 3-0 record against The Citadel in the all-time series between the programs as well as respective 1-1 and 9-8 marks versus Georgia Southern and Winthrop. The Pirates have already faced Georgia Southern this season in Statesboro, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Eagles at the Bash in the Boro.

The NIVC is an annual tournament involving 32 to 40 of the nation's top women's Division I Volleyball teams. All games, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools. Every round is single elimination.

2023 NIVC First and Second Rounds
Dec. 1-2 at East Carolina (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum)

December 1st
2:00 p.m. – Georgia Southern vs. Winthrop
6:00 p.m. – The Citadel at East Carolina

December 2nd
6:00 p.m. – First round winners

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