Volleyball to Host 2005 Division I Independent Championship

Dec. 13, 2004

GREELEY, Colo. - The University of Northern Colorado women's volleyball team was awarded the right to host the 2005 Division I Independent Volleyball Championship at Butler-Hancock Hall next November as announced on Monday.

The event will be held Nov. 10-12, 2005 on the University of Northern Colorado campus and will for the first time include a field of eight teams, seven of which are known at this time. The field already includes IPFW, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley State, the seven teams that competed in this year's event. The process of finding an eighth team for the event in currently underway and may include either UC Davis or Providence College.

"We very much look forward to hosting the 2005 Independent Championships and want to make it a special event for everyone involved," said University of Northern Colorado head coach Ron Alexander. "We are very pleased and thankful of our administration for stepping up to the plate and allowing us to put forth a very competitive bid to get the right to host this prestigious event."

With a field of eight teams for the first time, the event will include pool play (two pools of four teams each) and after pool play, break down to a championship and consolation semifinals and finals playoff.

"We will bring in two Sport Court surfaces so all the teams can play in the same building and create a championship environment," Alexander added.

The 2005 championship will be the sixth time the event has been held. Texas-Pan American won the first two championships (2000 in Shreveport, La. and 2001 on their home court in Edinburg) before IPFW was able to gain the crown in 2002 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Northern Colorado won the title in Fort Wayne in 2003, their first year competing for the title, and IPFW repeated this past season after they won a three-way tiebreaker with Northern Colorado and South Dakota State at the event held in Orem, Utah.

The Bears volleyball team was 25-9 overall in 2004 and finishing the season with a 13-2 record against Division I Independents. The Bears are 19-2 over the past two seasons against fellow D-I Independents.