BRACKET | Championship Central
EAST PEORIA, IL – In the first round of the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament, the top two seeds from each division – Rockhurst University and McKendree University – along with seeds No. 2 Lewis University and No. 3 University of Indianapolis from the East advanced to Saturday’s semifinal matches, which will be held in East Peoria, Ill., at the EastSide Centre.
No. 3E University of Indianapolis got the quarterfinal action started with an upset, topping No. 2W Missouri S&T 3-1. The Greyhounds won the opening set 25-21 but lost 22-25 in the second frame before bouncing back to take the victory with sets of 25-23 and 25-21. UIndy will be making its 14th-straight appearance in the semifinal round of the tournament, winning seven times with the most recent in 2013 when it eventually went on to win the crown.
No. 1E McKendree University went four sets with No. 4W University of Southern Indiana, beating the Screaming Eagles 3-1 in the second match of the day. This will be the Bearcats second visit to the second round of the postseason event, making it all the way to the championship match last season in the program’s first attempt. USI gave McK a run for its money, winning the second set 25-17 and forcing the fourth frame to 26-24, but it was ultimately the Bearcats who redeemed their loss to USI from just a week ago.
No. 2E Lewis University earned the first sweep of the day when it topped No. 3W Drury University in the third quarterfinal match. The 23rd ranked Flyers wasted no time to grab the victory, holding the Panthers to just 16 and 19 points in the first and second frames. Drury nearly forced a fourth set but fell just shy in the third by a score of 25-23. In their 25th postseason tournament, the Flyers will be competing in their 12th semifinal match.
No. 1W Rockhurst University was the only West division team to survive the first round of matches, beating East’s No. 4 seed University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 3-0. This will be the seventh appearance for the fifth-ranked Hawks in the semifinal round, but they have only advanced to the championship match once, which happened to be in 2012 when they won their first and only title.
No. 1E McKendree will face No. 3E Indianapolis on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. Central Time in the first of two semifinal matches. No. 1W Rockhurst will follow against No. 2E Lewis at 5:30 p.m. to conclude the semifinal round. Both matches can be seen live and free of charge on the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN) at http://www.GLVCsports.com/watch.
Additional information, including ticket prices, live stats links, GLVCSN information and more is available on the tournament Web site at http://www.GLVCsports.com/GLVCvb15.