CARBONDALE, ILL. – Southern Illinois’ season continues as the Salukis accepted a bid to the 2023 NIVC Tournament as announced Sunday evening. The Salukis postseason berth marks the second in program history and first appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Tournament. The last time Southern played past the Missouri Valley Conference tournament was in 2015 at the NCAA Tournament when SIU took on Illinois in the opening round.

Despite not having appeared in the NIVC since its reboot in 2017, head coach Ed Allen is no stranger to postseason volleyball as he’s led six teams to NCAA Tournament appearances over his 32-year career, most recently with back-to-back appearances in the 2013 and 2014 seasons at Alabama.

Southern Illinois will head to Des Moines to take on DePaul in the opening round this Wednesday, November 29 at 3 PM CT. The winner of Wednesday’s match will take on the victor of Chicago State and Drake on Thursday, November 30 at 6 PM CT.

The Blue Demons finished in fifth place in the 2023 Big East regular season standings with an overall record of 17-14 (9-9 Big East). Similar to the Salukis, DePaul won its opening match in the conference tournament before falling to top-seeded Creighton in three-sets.

DePaul has played two other MVC opponents this season, finishing with a 2-0 record as it took down UIC in four-sets and swept Evansville. Despite being an in-state opponent, the last meeting between Southern and DePaul took place in 1991 with 14 prior meetings as the Salukis trail in the series 7-8.