THE MATCH
No. 13 Tarleton Volleyball is in Pittsburgh as the representative of the South Central Region at the NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship for the first time in program history. Tarleton enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed and will open things up against No. 2 Western Washington out of the West Region on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 p.m. CT at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University.
NCAA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
The eight-team, single-elimination tournament consists of four first-round matches on Thursday beginning at 11 a.m., followed by two semifinal games on Friday, and the championship match on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The final team standing will be crowned the 2018 NCAA Division II National Champions.
NCAA REGIONAL TEAMS
1 seed: Tampa (30-4)
2 seed: Wheeling Jesuit (37-3)
3 seed: Western Washington (28-3)
4 seed: Wingate (32-1)
5 seed: Washburn (32-4)
6 seed: Tarleton (32-4)
7 seed: Lewis (28-7)
8 seed: American International (24-11)
TARLETON’S PATH
The TexAnns are the No. 6 seed in the tournament and will open the event against Western Washington at 1:30 p.m. CT on Thursday. With a win, the TexAnns will advance to the NCAA Semifinals for a showdown against the winner of Wheeling Jesuit and Lewis. Friday’s game times have not been designated. The National Championship is set for 2 p.m. CT Saturday against the winner of the opposite side of the bracket that includes (1) Tampa, (4) Wingate, (5) Washburn, and (8) American International.
REGIONAL CHAMPS
Tarleton earned the right to host the NCAA Regional Tournament for the first time in program history and rewarded the home crowd by claiming the program’s first regional championship in Wisdom Gym. Tarleton avenged an LSC Tournament Championship loss against Texas A&M-Commerce by meeting them in a rematch for the regional title a week later. The TexAnns defeated the Lions in four to win their way to Pittsburgh.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Tarleton comes into the week at No. 13 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll. The TexAnns have been ranked in every poll this season, including eight straight weeks in the top 15, and have been ranked as high as No. 10, which was a program record. The TexAnns are the highest ranked team in the LSC with Texas A&M-Commerce coming in at No. 20.
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