Niagara Draws Northern Iowa in NCAA Tournament
Niagara Media Relations
INDIANAPOLIS - The Niagara volleyball team will face the sixth-seeded
Northern Iowa Panthers in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Purple Eagles
and Panthers will play on Friday, Dec. 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET in the McLeod
Center on the campus of UNI.
"We are excited to go somewhere new and not face a Big Ten team for the first time," head coach Susan Clements said. "It is always exciting to wait and see your name pop up on the screen."
The Purple Eagles were drawn into the Gainesville Regional along with
Florida (24-5) and Missouri (21-12), who will play each other at 6:00
p.m. ET.
Niagara is making its third straight and third all-time appearance in
the NCAA Tournament; the Purple Eagles will face a non-Big Ten team for
the first time. Instead, Niagara will face the three-time defending
Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) champion UNI Panthers (32-1) who are
currently on a 23-match winning streak, rank 12th in the latest AVCA
Coaches Poll and will be making their 17th appearance in the NCAA
Tournament.
"I don't know that much about them," Clements said. "I know they have
been consistently ranked in the top 10 all season. They will probably be
really quick and have great defense. They have knocked off some really
good competition.
This will be the second-ever meeting between the two programs. Niagara
fell in straight sets to the Panthers on Sept. 12, 2003 in the Radisson
Invitational hosted by Western Michigan.