BREAKING: Volleyball team plays No. 3 Illinois in NCAA Tournament
It’s new territory for the Central Michigan volleyball team, and history is on its side.
CMU has made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and, it faces No. 3 Illinois on Friday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill.
Something has to give with this matchup.
The Chippewas are 4-2 all-time against the Fighting Illini, but UI is 14-1 at home this season.
CMU earned its way into the NCAA Tournament with an improbable run through the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
It swept No. 3 Western Michigan and No. 2 Ohio en route to a five-set victory over No. 1 Northern Illinois.
Illinois earned an at-large bid as the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament.
The team started 20-0, not dropping a set until its third game.
The top-four seeds in last season’s NCAA Tournament were ousted in the first two rounds, so the Fighting Illini should not count out the Chippewas — a team playing its best volleyball at the right time.
The winner of the CMU-Illinois match faces the winner of the Marquette-Western Kentucky matchup on Saturday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill.
The Chippewas are 1-1 in their last two matches against teams in the NCAA Tournament. It beat the Huskies to win the MAC Tournament, but fell to No. 23 Long Beach State in four sets on Friday.
NIU, Ball State and WMU join CMU from the MAC to earn spots in the field of 64.
Five teams, including CMU, are making their first appearences in the NCAA Tournament.
