BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The news of CSU Bakersfield's volleyball team accepting an invitation to compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship is still buzzing, but the Roadrunners have been hard at work preparing to tackle the tournament starting on Friday, Dec. 3. CSUB will head to Ogden, Utah for a four-team regional, hosted by Weber State, for the NIVC's first two rounds of single-elimination play.

"We are extremely excited to be playing in the postseason," said Giovana Melo, Director of Volleyball at CSUB. "The NIVC provides a great opportunity for us to keep competing and getting better as a program. Weber State is a very good team. I think it will be a super fun battle."

The `Runners are slated to take on Weber State in the opening round of the NIVC with first serve scheduled for 5 p.m. (PT) on Friday. A first-round win against the Wildcats would see Bakersfield face off against the winner between Portland State and Pacific.

Weber State (20-9, 13-3 Big Sky) won the Big Sky Conference's regular-season title, but the Wildcats were upset by second-seeded Northern Colorado in the Championship match of the Big Sky Tournament on their home court.

Portland State (19-10, 12-4 Big Sky) also fell to Northern Colorado, but in the league tourney's semifinal round. Pacific (13-16) finished with a 10-8 record in the tough West Coast Conference. The `Runners and Tigers met in a preseason scrimmage in Bakersfield, an unofficial match that CSUB won 3-1. The second-round NIVC matchup is slated for Saturday, Dec. 4, at 1 p.m. (PT) in Ogden.

For the full 31-team NIVC bracket, click this link. All matches in the four-team regional will be broadcasted live on ESPN+. Links to the tickets, video broadcasts, live stats, and more can be found at GoRunners.com/Live. At this time, Weber State is not imposing any restriction on crowd size, nor does the campus require masks or proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

~GoRunners.com~