Friday and Saturday IPFW hosts the Summit League Volleyball Championship at Gates Center to determine who represents the Summit League in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
IPFW enters the tournament as the #2 seed with an overall record of 21-8 and a conference record of 14-4. The semifinals on Friday match #1 seed North Dakota State vs #4 seed Oakland University at 5:00 pm followed by #2 seed IPFW vs #3 seed Oral Roberts University at approximately at 7:30 pm.
The 2011 Summit League Volleyball Championship Preview provides information on each of the four competing schools.
If you have never attended a women's volleyball match, why would you attend this weekend? Because this is women's volleyball played at a very high level of competition. These are the four best teams in The Summit League which earlier this month was ranked as the 13th best volleyball conference in NCAA Division I right behind the Mid-American Conference and above such highly-regarded conferences as the Big East, the Atlantic 10, and the Horizon League.
Summit League Volleyball Ranked 13th
North Dakota State is currently ranked 45th in NCAA D-I. IPFW is ranked 68th. They split 1-1 in their two matches this season. In the 2009 championship final IPFW upset North Dakota State in Fargo to earn IPFW's first NCAA D-I tournament bid. In 2010 North Dakota State survived several match point opportunities by IPFW in the 4th set to win 3-2 again in Fargo. But there is no guarantee that either team will be there Saturday night for what would be a highly-anticipated rematch of those last two conference finals since all four teams will be very competitive.
So this year the championship will be decided in Fort Wayne. This is a great opportunity to witness women's volleyball played at a very high level in Fort Wayne. Take advantage of this opportunity to come out to IPFW to support the Lady Mastodons.
