12/1/02

Texas Volleyball Will Travel to Arizona for First Round of NCAA Tournament

AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas volleyball team received word on Sunday, Dec. 1, that the team received a bid for the 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament. The bid marks the 20th time in school history that the Longhorns will be playing in the postseason.

The Longhorns will travel to Tucson, Ariz., to face the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday, Dec. 5 for a 6:30 Central match. Indiana, a member of the Big Ten Conference, finished the season 20-12 overall and sixth in the Big Ten at 10-10. Host and 10th-seeded Arizona (17-11) will play UT-Arlington (26-6) following the Texas/Indiana match. The winners of both matches will play on Friday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. Central.

"We are excited to be traveling to Arizona," said second-year head coach Jerritt Elliott, who is taking Texas to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. "Everyone starts out on a clean slate. With the way rally scoring has gone this season, I think the tournament has become more wide open."

Southern California was chosen as the No. 1 team at 25-1 and is the top seed in the West Regional. No. 4 Northern Iowa (32-2) is the top seed in the East Regional while third-seeded Nebraska (27-1) is the highest seeded team in the Central Regional. The Longhorns have been placed in the Pacific Regional with No. 2 Stanford (27-4) having the highest seeding. In the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, the top-16 teams are nationally seeded and assigned to four regions. All of the top-16 teams are hosting except for No. 12 Washington State (21-7), who will travel to Big 12 runner-up Kansas State (20-8).

Besides Texas, the Big 12 has four other representatives in this year's tournament: Nebraska, Kansas State, Missouri and Texas A&M. The Pac-10 and Big Ten lead all conferences with eight teams each.

The 2002 NCAA Volleyball Tournament will get underway on Dec. 5 with the First and Second Rounds. Regionals will be held at campus sites beginning on Dec. 12 thru Dec. 15. The final four teams in the tournament will travel to the New Orleans Arena in for the semifinals on Dec. 19. The 2002 National Champion will be crowned on Dec. 21 in New Orleans. For more information on the NCAA Tournament go to the NCAA Championship website at www.ncaasports.com.

Fans looking for ticket information for the First and Second Rounds can visit the University of Arizona website, www.arizonaathletics.com.