| Road to Sacramento begins
with NCAA Volleyball Regionals
With an ultimate final destination of Sacramento, 64
teams begin play Friday in the NCAA Division I Women’s
Volleyball Championship. Stanford, defending champion
Nebraska, Penn State and Texas are the top seeds.
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Committee announced
the 64-team field on Saturday. Thirty-one conferences
were awarded automatic selections. The remaining 33
slots were willed with at-large selections.
Included in the field is Sacramento State, the host
school for the semifinals and final, to be held Dec.
13 and 15 at ARCO Arena. Sacramento State won the Big
Sky Conference Tournament on Saturday for the sixth
consecutive year.
The semifinals and finals in Sacramento mark the first
time that the NCAA women’s volleyball showcase
has been held in the capital city of the nation’s
top volleyball state.
In each of the four regionals, first- and second-round
games will be played at 16 campus sites. Teams winning
their first two matches will move on to regional play
Dec. 7-8.
The four regional winners then advance to ARCO Arena
for semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 13, followed by the
championship game on Saturday, Dec. 15.
Stanford, the top-seeded team in the California Regional
with a 27-2 record, plays Santa Clara (19-11) on Friday
at Stanford. In Friday’s second game at Stanford,
Minnesota (18-12) plays Sacramento State (28-7).
California (22-7) is seeded 10th overall. The Golden
Bears open the Wisconsin Regional on Friday against
Liberty (27-8) in Durham, N.C.
To purchase tickets for the NCAA Division I Women’s
Volleyball Championship semifinals and final at ARCO
Arena, call (916) 649-TIXS.
In the 26-year history of the NCAA Division I tournament,
10 schools have been crowned champion. Nine of those
schools are in this year’s field: Stanford (1992,
’94, ’96, ’97, 2001, ’04), Hawaii
(1982, ’83, ’87), Long Beach State (1989,
’93, ’98), UCLA (1984, ’90, ’91),
Nebraska (1995, 2000, ’06), USC (1981, 2002, ’03),
Penn State (1999), Texas (1988) and Washington (2005).
For more information on the bracket, see www.ncaasports.com/volleyball.
|
