QU volleyball squad heading to GLVC Tournament with more historic markers to be had

QUINCY — A national ranking, a spot atop the regional rankings and the No. 1 seed for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

Yeah, life is pretty good these days for the Quincy University women’s volleyball team.

It could get infinitely better with success this weekend in the GLVC Tournament at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill. Should the Hawks, ranked 19th in the NCAA Division II national poll this week, hold onto their top spot in the Midwest Region rankings through the end of this week, they would be in line to play host to the region tournament at Pepsi Arena.

That’s quite a turn of events for a program that has never made an NCAA Tournament appearance since becoming a D-II program in the mid-1990s.

The Hawks finished the regular season with a 26-1 record following last Saturday’s 25-13, 27-25, 25-21 victory at Drury, which was their 16th sweep of the season. Quincy went 11-1 in GLVC play, sweeping six of those matches.

Here’s some historical numbers to help put the Hawks’ success in perspective:

• The 26 victories are the most since the 1993 squad went 26-18.

• The school record for victories is 36, set in both 1980 and 1985 when the Hawks were an NAIA program.

• This is the 11th time in program history Quincy has won 20 or more matches, but only the fifth time in the last 37 seasons.

• The Hawks are guaranteed to finish with the fewest losses since 1972 when they went 14-1.

• The 11-1 record in GLVC play marks the second-most league victories in program history, one shy of the 12-6 record the Hawks had during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season. Quincy has won 11 GLVC matches three other times — going 11-7 in 2021, 11-5 in 1998 and 11-9 in 1995.

• Quincy has won just one GLVC Tournament match in the last 20 years and only four postseason matches in the GLVC era.

Quincy is the No. 1 seed for the GLVC Tournament, which kicks off Thursday. The Hawks face eighth-seeded Maryville at 11:30 a.m. in the first round, having beaten the Saints in four sets on the road on September 23. Fourth-seeded Lewis and fifth-seeded Missouri S&T are on QU’s side of the bracket.

Second-seeded Missouri-St. Louis faces seventh-seeded Illinois-Springfield and third-seeded Rockhurst squares off against sixth-seeded Indianapolis in the other first-round matchups.

The GLVC championship match is scheduled for noon Saturday. The NCAA Tournament brackets will be revealed during a selection show at 9 p.m. Sunday. The show will be streamed live at NCAA.com.