Marquette Volleyball Is In The 2021 NCAA Tournament!

MARQUETTE VOLLEYBALL IS BACK, BAYBAY!

Back in the NCAA tournament, that is.

After missing the tournament for the first time in 10 years in the shortened spring version of the 2020 season, the 26-5 Golden Eagles earned an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament. On Sunday night, the NCAA announced by way of ESPNU that the Golden Eagles will face Dayton in the first round of the tournament.

That match will be in West Lafayette, Indiana, as MU will be hosted by #6 national seed Purdue, and it appears that the match will take place on Thursday, December 2nd. The winner of the MU/Dayton match will face the winner of the Purdue/Illinois State first round match on Friday, December 3rd.

The Flyers went 25-5 this season with a perfect 16-0 record in Atlantic 10 play. They also won the Atlantic 10 tournament with wins over Duquesne and Fordham in the semifinals and finals respectively. Thanks to that perfect record in league play, two wins in the conference tournament, and a random non-conference game against Xavier in there, Dayton comes into the NCAA tournament on a 19 match winning streak.

Creighton is, as expected, the only other Big East team in the field this fall. The Bluejays earned a national seed and come into the whole shebang ranked #14. They will host the first two rounds of the tournament in Omaha and will face Ole Miss in the first round on December 2nd. By nature of weirdo bracketing policies, there is a chance that the Golden Eagles will have to face the Bluejays one more time this season, although both teams would have to reach the Elite Eight for that to happen.

Keep your eyes open for more information on time and television/streaming for the match! Ticket info too, I suppose, but if I remember correctly, Purdue plays volleyball in a very tiny gym and there might not be much in the way of availability.