MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team makes its second National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) appearance on Tuesday, Nov. 28, when the Mountaineers take on Maryland Eastern Shore in the first round of competition. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
 
West Virginia (18-12, 6-10 Big 12) earned an automatic bid to the NIVC Sunday evening, as the squad will play in the second of two matches hosted by WVU tomorrow evening. Campbell (20-11, 10-6 Big South) and Temple (19-9, 15-5 AAC) will meet at 4:30 p.m. in the first contest.
 
The winners of Tuesday's matches will meet on Wednesday, Nov. 29, in the tournament's second round at 6 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
 
Single-match tickets are available at a cost of $6 for general admission, $5 for students and $4 for youth and seniors. WVU students will be admitted free with a valid I.D. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $3 each. Tickets are available by visiting WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU-GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, located at the Gold Gate of the WVU Coliseum.
 
"I think the NIVC is a great step in the right direction," said third-year coach Reed Sunahara. "We talked about the postseason during the preseason, and that was one our goals. Unfortunately, it is not the NCAAs, but it is still the postseason. It's a great step, and it gives us another opportunity to get better."
 
West Virginia and Maryland Eastern Shore will meet for the second time in program history, as the Hawks earned a 3-1 victory over the Mountaineers in their first-ever meeting in Morgantown held on Sept. 7, 2012.
 
West Virginia finished fifth in the Big 12 Conference, surpassing the predicted sixth-place finish as voted by the league's coaches in the preseason. The Mountaineers have won 18 matches in a season for the first time since a 20-13 season in 2013. With 18 wins this year, Sunahara has earned his highest win total as head coach of the Mountaineers. WVU also marked a 6-10 Big 12 Conference record, matching its six-win total from 2014.
 
The Mountaineers closed their 2017 regular season slate with two Big 12 wins on the road, defeating Kansas State, 3-0, on Nov. 22 and topping No. 14 Kansas, 3-2, on Nov. 25. WVU finished the week 2-0 in Big 12 play, capturing a season sweep over the Wildcats for the first time in program history and claiming its first-ever win over a ranked opponent.
 
Two-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree Payton Caffrey leads the Mountaineers offense with 3.46 kills per set, totaling 388 kills on the year thus far. The sophomore outside hitter also ranks No. 1 in service aces (0.46 per set) and No. 3 in digs (2.41 per set). Senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan, a 2017 All-Big 12 Second Team nominee, leads WVU's blocking efforts with 138.0 on the year, averaging 1.25 blocks per set.
 
WVU and UMES' lone common opponent this season was Akron. The Mountaineers swept the Zips, 3-0, in their first match of the Black Knights Invitational at Gillis Field House in West Point, New, York held in mid-September. The Hawks dropped a five-set match to the Zips in only their second match of the 2017 season in Annapolis, Maryland, on Aug. 26.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore finished the season at 27-8 before being ousted by Florida A&M in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) semifinals. The Hawks garnered an automatic bid to the NIVC Tournament, earning their third trip to the postseason as a program and the first since 2012.
 
UMES owns a .267 hitting efficiency as a team and averages 12.2 kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Iva Vujosevic leads the Hawk offense with 3.25 kills per set to go along with 0.46 service aces per set. Redshirt senior middle blocker Mere Serea leads the floor defensively, averaging 1.00 blocks per set.
 
The 2017 NIVC Tournament returns from a hiatus in place since 1995 and will consist of 32 teams with participating schools hosting all matches. Teams are offered automatic berths by the NIVC when they are the highest-finishing team in its conference regular season standings and are not selected for the NCAA Tournament. Originally known as the Women's Invitational Volleyball Championship (WIVC), the NIVC made its first run from 1989-1995, with Wisconsin winning the inaugural title.
 
The Mountaineers previously appeared in the WIVC Tournament in 1991, defeating Notre Dame and Drexel in the process.
 
Of note, round three will take place from Dec. 1-3, followed by the semifinals from Dec. 4-9. The Championship match is slated for Dec. 12, hosted at one of the two remaining schools, with a live broadcast available through WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.