Volleyball Draws Minnesota in NCAA 1st Round
November 29, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 29, 2009
Making their 20th NCAA appearance, the University of Louisville (21-10) will face Minnesota (24-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn. on Friday, Dec. 4 at 4:30 p.m. (ET).
On Saturday, Dec. 5, the winner of the Louisville-Minnesota match will face the winner of the Duke-Tennessee at 7 p.m. (ET).
"We are happy and excited to have a chance to keep on playing," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "We have a hard road ahead of us but not an impossible one. If we play to our potential, give our best and play to our ability there is no reason not to advance. These are all well-coached, successful programs and we will have to put our best effort forward."
The Cardinals, who earned their berth with the BIG EAST Tournament championship, have won seven straight and 11 of their last 13 matches. U of L is led by BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Lola Arslanbekova who was named BIG EAST Tournament MVP last week after leading the Cardinals to their 12th straight conference title game and their second straight BIG EAST tournament crown. She averages 4.35 kills per set and has 513 kills for the Cardinals.
U of L is one of the best blocking teams in the nation. Ranked No. 5 in the nation in blocking, U of L just tied a record for blocks in a match with 23 against Jacksonville State yesterday. U of L's chief threat at the net is Lecia Brown, the 5-8 middle who can touch 10-8. She averages 1.5 blocks per set. She is the Cardinals' leading career blocker and holds the single match record with 13.
U of L is 12-19 overall in its 19 previous appearances with the Cardinals reaching the Sweet Sixteen four times (1996, 1998, 2004 and 2005). Yelin is 11-12 in the NCAAs and skippered all four Sweet Sixteen appearances.
Florida State, who is the overall No. 3 seed in the tournament and the top team in the Cardinals' region . Washington is the No. 6 seed, the Golden Gophers are No. 11 and Oregon is No. 14. Florida State (hosts Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, Jacksonville State), Kentucky (Michigan State, Clemson, Oregon), Tennessee and Colorado State (Middle Tennessee, Northern Colorado and Washington) will be the hosts for the first and second rounds.
Those sites will feed into the Minneapolis Regional on Dec. 10-11. The Regional Semifinals will take place on Friday, Dec. 10 at 5 and 7 p.m. and the Regional Final will be on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN 2.
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced today the 64-team field for the 2009 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 Pennsylvania State University; No. 2 University of Texas at Austin; No. 3 Florida State University; and No. 4 Stanford University.
The established bracketing principles of non-conference first- and second-round matchups were followed and team pairings were determined by geographical proximity. The Pacific-10 Conference led all conferences with eight teams selected. The Big Ten Conference and the Big 12 Conference garnered six teams each in the field while the Atlantic Coast Conference has five teams in the tournament. Two teams, Penn State and Stanford have earned bids to all 29 championships. Five teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: U.S. Military Academy, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Niagara University, University of Northern Colorado and Texas Christian University.
In the 28-year history of the championship, 10 schools have been crowned champion, nine of which are in this year's bracket, including two-time defending champion Penn State.
Additional past winners making the field are Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97, 2001, 04), University of Hawaii, Manoa (1982, 83, 87), Long Beach State University (1989, 93, 98), University of California, Los Angeles (1984, 90, 91), University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1995, 2000, and 06), University of Southern California (1981, 2002, 03), Penn State (1999, 2007), Texas (1988) and University of Washington (2005).
First- and second-round matches will be played at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will move on to regional play December 11 and 12. The pre-determined regional sites are Stanford, California; Gainesville, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Omaha, Nebraska. The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by University of South Florida and Tampa Bay Sports Commission at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, on December 17 and 19.
A list of the first-round match-ups follows.GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA REGIONAL
December 4-5 at University Park, PennsylvaniaNo. 1 Penn St. (32-0) vs. Binghamton (15-15)Army (26-5) vs. Penn (22-5)
December 3-4 at Gainesville, FloridaMiami (18-12) vs. FIU (31-3)Col. of Charleston (18-12) vs. No. 16 Florida (23-5)
December 4-5 at Columbus, OhioNo. 9 California (18-10) vs. Lipscomb (28-3)Cincinnati (25-10) vs. Ohio St. (24-9)
December 4-5 at Los Angeles, CaliforniaGeorgia Tech (21-9) vs. Baylor (22-9)Long Beach St. (22-8) vs. No. 8 UCLA (23-8)
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA REGIONAL
December 3-4 at Champaign, IllinoisNo. 5 Illinois (24-5) vs. IPFW (20-11)Milwaukee (16-14) vs. Dayton (29-3)December 4-5 at Los Angeles, CaliforniaSouthern California (21-9) vs. Oklahoma (18-11)New Mexico (20-9) vs. No. 12 Hawaii (27-2)
December 4-5 at Ann Arbor, MichiganNo. 13 Michigan (24-9) vs. Niagara (23-8)Ohio (26-6) vs. Notre Dame (21-6)
December 4-5 at Stanford, CaliforniaSt. Mary's (CA) (22-4) vs. UC Santa Barbara (22-7)Long Island (21-13) vs. No. 4 Stanford (21-7)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA REGIONAL
December 5-6 at Tallahassee, FloridaNo. 3 Florida St. (28-2) vs. Alabama A&M (18-10)Florida A&M (17-9) vs. Jacksonville St. (26-7)
December 4-5 at Lexington, KentuckyKentucky (27-4) vs. Michigan St. (17-15)Clemson (23-9) vs. No. 14 Oregon (19-9)
December 4-5 at Knoxville, TennesseeNo. 11 Minnesota (24-8) vs. Louisville (21-10)Duke (27-5) vs. Tennessee (23-7)
December 3-4 at Fort Collins, ColoradoColorado St. (23-5) vs. Middle Tenn. (25-9)Northern Colo. (21-11) vs. No. 6 Washington (23-5)
OMAHA, NEBRASKA REGIONAL
December 4-5 at Ames, IowaNo. 7 Iowa State (25-4) vs. George Mason (23-8)Wichita St. (25-6) vs. St. Louis (24-7)
December 4-5 at Lincoln, NebraskaWashington St. (18-12) vs. UNI (30-2)Coastal Caro. (20-13) vs. No. 10 Nebraska (23-6)
December 4-5 at Baton Rouge, LouisianaNo. 15 LSU (24-6) vs. Tulane (18-9)Arizona (19-10) vs. Texas A&M (18-10)
December 4-5 at Austin, TexasTCU (26-6) vs. Rice (23-8)Texas St. (22-12) vs. No. 2 Texas (24-1)
