The Wildcats and the Falcons play on Tuesday, Dec. 17
Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs has said a few times that winning the NIVC would prove that the Wildcats are the “65th best team” in Division I volleyball. The Wildcats are arguably better than several teams that got into the NCAA Tournament, including some at-large teams that were taken over them, but her point is well taken. If a team doesn’t win its league or impress the selection committee enough, it doesn’t have the chance to prove that it’s better than those teams.
It can still win a championship, though. And that’s just what the Wildcats will try to do.
Arizona (23-9, 9-9 Big 12) will host Bowling Green (25-9, 16-2 MAC) in the NIVC tournament title game on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. MST in McKale Center. The match will stream on ESPN+.
The Wildcats got a first-round bye in the tourney before defeating the Pacific Tigers, the Wyoming Cowgirls, and the Northern Colorado Bears. They dropped just one set, losing the third set of their match against the Bears in the Fab 4.
The three teams UA faced were ranked No. 128, No. 107, and No. 68 in RPI before the tournament. They will now take on the 85th-ranked Falcons.
BGSU and Arizona have one common opponent in Big 12 team Cincinnati. The Wildcats defeated UC 3-1 in Cincinnati. The Bearcats defeated BGSU 3-0 in Bowling Green.
The Falcons’ only ranked opponent this season was No. 22 Dayton. The Flyers defeated BGSU in straight sets. Arizona went 2-8 against teams that were ranked at the time of the match and 2-9 against teams that were ranked at some point over the season.
BGSU’s other major conference opponents were Big Ten teams Ohio State and Illinois. It lost in straight sets to the Illini. It lost both matches in a home-and-home played against the Buckeyes. OSU swept the Falcons at home and beat them 3-1 in Bowling Green.
Once hitting the NIVC, BGSU has been resilient. It beat Binghamton and Wright State 3-1 at home. In both cases, the opponent won the first set 25-18 before the Falcons came back to win three straight.
BGSU then went on the road to play DePaul. Once again, it won 3-1. The Falcons dominated the Blue Demons in the first two sets before dropping the third. They regrouped to easily win the fourth.
The Fab 4 was even more difficult for the Falcons. They fell behind St. John’s 0-2 in Queens, N.Y. They narrowly defeated the Red Storm in the third before blowing them out in the fourth and taking a close fifth on the way to a reverse sweep.
Lead photo by Mike Christy / Arizona Athletics