Fresno State heading to Las Vegas for volleyball postseason opener

Fresno State is heading to the Las Vegas regional to start the 32-team National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

In pairings set after the 64-team NCAA Tournament was announced Sunday, the NIVC pitted Fresno State against UC Santa Barbara on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the first half of a doubleheader in Las Vegas. Host UNLV will play UC Irvine in the second half of the doubleheader, with the winners meeting Friday at 7 p.m.

Fresno State’s last postseason appearance, the 2002 NCAA Tournament, also came against UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos beat the Bulldogs 3-1 on Dec. 6, 2002.

Fresno State (21-10) earned the NIVC bid by finishing second in the Mountain West Conference. The Bulldogs and UCSB haven’t meet since 2014. This year, the Gauchos are 17-11 overall and finished fourth in the Big West Conference.