Volleyball Draws Middle Tennessee In NCAA Tournament
November 25, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 25, 2007
The University of Louisville volleyball team makes its 18th appearance in the NCAA Championship as the Cardinals will face Middle Tennessee in a rematch of last year's first round on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Hawai'i will take on Tennessee State at 4 p.m. in the other side of the bracket. The winners of both matches will play on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
"It is always great to stay at home," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "Our fans are give us such strong support. So many teams mention how knowledgeable our fans are and how they love to play in this atmosphere. We are looking forward to playing Middle Tennessee again, did you see our team react? We just have to do our jobs and get ready for them, I don't think I will need a fancy motivational speech."
The No. 23-ranked Cardinals are 22-7 and were the regular season co-champions of the BIG EAST Conference. Middle Tennessee (33-2) are the Sun Belt Champions. Hawai'i (26-5), seeded 11th in the tournament, were the WAC Tournament Champions and Tennessee State, the OVC Champions stand at 20-13.
Last year, the Cardinals fell to Middle Tennessee in the first round of the tournament in Louisville. The Blue Raiders then fell to Ohio State, giving the Buckeyes the Sweet Sixteen berth. The Cardinals have made three Sweet Sixteen appearances with the last coming in 2005.
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced 64-team field for the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Thirty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 33 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were No. 1 Stanford University; No. 2 University of Nebraska, Lincoln; No. 3 Pennsylvania State University; and No. 4 University of Texas at Austin.
Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during the first and second rounds.
The Big 12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference and the Pacific-10 Conference led all conferences with six teams selected. The Southeastern Conference garnered five teams in the field while the West Coast Conference and Missouri Valley Conference each have four teams in the tournament. Two teams, Penn State and Stanford have earned bids to all 27 championships. Six teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Cleveland State University, University of Delaware, Lipscomb University, South Dakota State University, Tennessee State University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In the 26-year history of the championship, ten schools have been crowned champion, nine of which are in this year's bracket, including the defending champion Nebraska.
Game Times: (ET)
Friday, November 30th 4:00 Hawaii vs. Tennessee StateFriday, November 30th 7:00 Louisville vs. Middle TennesseeSaturday, December 1st 7:00 Winner of Match 1 v. Winner of Match 2
Ticket Prices:
Single Session will not go on sale till Friday.Single Session PricesChild 3-12 $4.00Student with ID & Senior $6.00Adult $10.00
All Session PricesChild 3-12 $6.00Student with ID & Senior $10.00Adult $15.00
Ticket office numbers: 502-852-5151 or 1-800-633-7105
