UNI may have to find a place to play in NCAA tourney

If the Northern Iowa volleyball team makes it through the opening weekend of the N-C-A-A tournament, they most likely will have to play on the road for the following rounds. Panther athletic director Rick Hartzell says the West Gym does not meet tournament guidelines for the second round. The NCAA requires a building that seats at least five-thousand for the regionals, and UNI would have to find another venue like Vet’s Auditorium in Des Moines or the Five Seasons Center in Cedar Rapids in order to be able to “host” a regional match. Hartzell says the proposed McLeod U-S-A arena would help avoid this problem in the future but Hartzell says they are still trying to complete the fundraising for the project.Hartzell says they hope to break ground this spring, but haven’t met their fundraising goal yet.