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Eight Big Ten Teams Selected to NCAA Championship
Nov. 28, 2010
PARK RIDGE, Ill. – A Big Ten record-tying eight conference teams were selected to the 2010 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship, it was announced on Sunday afternoon. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue give the Big Ten the most teams of any conference to be selected to this year’s field. It is the 12th time in the last 13 seasons the Big Ten has sent six or more teams to the championship field and the third time since 1999 eight conference squads have been selected to the postseason event. The eight selected Big Ten teams are the most of any conference in the nation, followed by the SEC with seven and the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-10 with five each. The four seeded teams are tied with the SEC for the most among all conferences. Penn State (26-5, 16-4 Big Ten), the No. 4 national seed, will host first- and second-round matches after earning the conference’s automatic berth into the field by winning its eighth straight Big Ten Championship. The Nittany Lions have won the last three national titles and have been selected to all 30 NCAA Championships. Penn State will face Niagara (25-8) in the first round and would face either Virginia Tech or Delaware in the second round of the University Park, Pa., Regional. Illinois (22-8, 14-6) advances to its third straight NCAA Championship and earned the No. 8 national seed. The Illini finished tied for second in the Big Ten and will host first- and second-round contests in Champaign on Friday and Saturday. They will open with Austin Peay (26-7) and will face either Cincinnati or Western Kentucky in the second round of the Austin, Texas, Regional with a win in the opening round. The No. 10 overall seed, Minnesota (24-8, 14-6) will play host to first- and second-round contests this weekend, and will open the 2010 postseason against North Dakota State (20-10). Playing in the Seattle Regional, the Gophers would face the Iowa State-Creighton winner in the second round with a first-round triumph. Minnesota appears in its 14th straight NCAA Championship field, having advanced to the national semifinals a year ago.
The Big Ten’s fourth seeded team, No. 16 Purdue returns to the postseason and makes its sixth appearance in the last seven years. Hosting first- and second-round contests, the Boilermakers (21-10, 12-8) will take on Kentucky (17-13), and should they win, will face the winner of Middle Tennessee and Louisville in the second round of the Austin, Texas, Regional. Indiana is making its first appearance in the postseason tournament since 2002 and fifth in program history. Playing in the Dayton, Ohio, Regional, the Hoosiers (21-11, 9-11) will serve as hosts for the first two rounds of the tournament and will face Miami (Fla.) (23-8) in their opener. Indiana would face the Tennessee-Alabama A&M winner should it advance to the second round. Michigan makes its 11th appearance in the NCAA Championship and fifth straight. The Wolverines (23-9, 12-8) hit the road to face the host Washington Huskies (21-8) in the opening round of the Seattle Regional. With an opening-round win, Michigan would face the Hawaii-Portland State winner in the round of 32. Appearing in the NCAA Championship field for the first time since 2005 and sixth time overall, Northwestern (19-12, 9-11) is part of the University Park Regional and will hit the road for opening-round play. The Wildcats take on Arizona (20-11) in the first round with the chance to face host Northern Iowa or Missouri in the second round. Rounding out the conference contingent is Ohio State, making back-to-back berths in the championship field. Appearing in the Dayton Regional, the Buckeyes (22-11, 10-10) challenge Lipscomb (24-6) in the first round and would face the winner of host Dayton and Butler in the second round with an opening round win. The complete first- and second-round matchups can be found below. Austin, Texas Regional Dec. 3-4 at Champaign, Ill. University Park, Pa., Regional Dec. 3-4 at University Park, Pa. Dayton, Ohio Regional Dec. 3-4 at Bloomington, Ind. Seattle, Wash., Regional Dec. 2-3 at Seattle, Wash.
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