CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 23 Illinois volleyball team received an at-large bid in the 2021 NCAA Division I Championship and will be making its 27th appearance in program history and fourth time in five years under head coach Chris Tamas as the Illini travel to Lexington, Ky., on the campus of the University of Kentucky to face West Virginia in the first round of the tournament. 

The Illini (20-11, 12-8 B1G) will face the Mountaineers (19-9, 8-8 Big 12) at 4 p.m. CT in the first match on Friday (December 3) in Memorial Coliseum, followed by host and No. 7 seed Kentucky (24-4, 17-1 SEC) taking on SEMO (26-7, 14-4 OVC) at 6:30 p.m. CT. The winner of each match will advance to the second round on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT. 

Illinois is making its 11th postseason appearance in the last 14 seasons and is 44-26 (.629) all-time in postseason play. The Illini have faced WVU just once in program history, a 2-0 win during the 1978 season, while also holding a 4-3 mark against the Wildcats and a 2-0 record against SEMO.

The Big Ten led all conferences with eight teams selected from the league to compete in the championship tournament, with the eight selections marking the 29th time in as many years that at least six Big Ten teams have been selected to the tournament. Big Ten Champion Wisconsin earned the No. 4 overall seed, with No. 6 Purdue, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 12 Minnesota earning seeds, and Penn State and Michigan joining the Illini as at-large selections to the tournament.

Teams winning two matches this weekend will move on to regional play on December 9-11. The regional winners will advance to the National Semifinals and Championship Final on December 16 and 18 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The national semifinal matches will broadcast on ESPN and the championship match will broadcast on ESPN2.

Broadcast details for this weekend's matches will be announced shortly.

Ticket Information
Tickets for the 2021 Lexington Sub-Regional will go on sale to UK Volleyball season ticket holders at 8 a.m. CT on Monday for the opportunity to purchase all-session tickets. All-session passes will go on sale to the general public at 8 a.m. CT on Tuesday. Single-session tickets go on-sale Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. CT. All tickets can be purchased through the UK Athletics Ticket Office at UKathletics.com/tickets, or by visiting its Lexington Ave. location.

All-session tickets are $18 for adults in reserved seating, $15 for adult general admission and $8 for college students with student ID's and senior citizens or youth (6-18). Single-session tickets will be sold for $12 in reserved seating, $10 for general admission and $5 for seniors or college-aged student with a valid student ID or youth (6-18).

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