For the second-straight season,s the Western Athletic Conference had three teams advance to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. WAC Tournament champion Hawai'i, Utah State and Nevada all advanced to the tournament beginning Dec. 1.
Hawai'i, the overall No. 7 seed, will travel to Austin, Texas to take on Texas State in the first round on Dec. 2. The winner will take on the winner of the match between host Texas and LSU. Hawai'i has advanced to 24 of 25 NCAA Tournaments. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine advanced to the regional semifinals, losing to Wisconsin in Green Bay.
Nevada advances to postseason for the second-straight season. Last year, the Wolf Pack lost in the first round to Wichita State in Lincoln, Nev. This is the third time in four years that Nevada has advanced to the NCAA Tournament.Friday will mark the third time the Wolf Pack have played an NCAA Tournament match at Stanford as they also played first round matches in 2001, and 2002.
In its first season in the WAC, Utah State earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament after advancing to the WAC Championship match. The Aggies (21-12) will take on fourth-seeded Arizona in Salt Lake City. The winner will face either host Utah or Loyola Marymount.ssIt will be Utah State?™s third-ever postseason appearance as it participated in the 2000 and 2001 NCAA Tournaments.s At the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Provo, Utah, USU defeated Missouri (3-2) in the first round before losing to host BYU (3-0) in the second round.s At the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City, the Aggies upset 19th-ranked BYU (3-2) before losing to host Utah (3-1) in the second round.
Both Nevada and Utah State are part of the Palo Alto Regional on the campus of the University of Stanford. Hawai'i is part of the Penn State Regional in State College, Pa.
Teams winning both matches will move on to regional play Dec. 9 and 10. The pre-determined regional sites are Palo Alto, California; Omaha, Nebraska; State College, Pennsylvania; and College Station, Texas. The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by University of Texas at San Antonio at the Alamodone in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 15 and 17.
Link to 2005 NCAA Tournament Bracket
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA REGIONAL
December 2-3 at Stanford
Stanford (25-5) vs. Nevada (18-12)
Santa Clara (23-4) vs. Sacramento State (26-8)
December 2-3 at Utah
Utah (22-8) vs. Loyola Marymount (19-10)
Utah State (21-12) vs. Arizona (22-5)
STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA REGIONAL
December 2-3 at Texas
Hawaii (25-6) vs. Texas State (17-14)
Texas (23-4) vs. LSU (21-7)