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Three Teams Take to the Court in NCAA Regional Play
Dec. 6, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format For the fourth consecutive season and the sixth time in the past eight years, the Big Ten has advanced three or more teams to regional competition in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship. Big Ten champion Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin have earned the right to compete one more weekend after winning both their first and second-round matches. Penn State (31-2, 20-0 Big Ten), ranked and seeded second, advanced to the NCAA regional semifinal with 3-0 sweeps over Binghamton and Long Island. The Nittany Lions take to their home court at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 9, battling No. 17 and 15th-seeded Tennessee. No. 6 Hawaii and No. 8 Missouri will square off in the 4 p.m. match on Friday. The winners will meet at 4 p.m. on Saturday in State College. The Nittany Lions reached the national championship match in three consecutive tournaments from 1997-1999. The last time Penn State went undefeated in league play was in 1999 when it went on to capture the Big Ten's only national title. No. 11 seed Wisconsin (25-6, 15-5), ranked 12th nationally, will take on ninth-ranked and Big East champion Notre Dame (30-3) on Friday at 5 p.m. on the campus of Texas A&M. Wisconsin moved past Loyola (Ill.) and then-No. 16 California with 3-0 sweeps in the first and second rounds, respectively. The Badgers, who make their 14th overall and 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAAs, could potentially meet Big Ten foe Purdue in the regional finals. Third-ranked Washington (28-1) will take on 16th-ranked Purdue (25-8) in the second semifinal beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday in College Station, Texas. The Boilermakers also moved passed their first two opponents in shutout fashion, as they defeated Virginia Commonwealth and College of Charleston to earn the regional bid. Should Purdue defeat Washington and Wisconsin get passed Notre Dame, the two conference teams would meet in the regional final. It would mark the 11th time two league squads battled against each other in the history of the NCAA Championship. The 10th occasion occurred when Minnesota and Ohio State met in the 2004 regional finals. Purdue is in its second NCAA berth in as many years and the ninth in the program's 30-year history. Three conference teams concluded their seasons in the second round of the NCAA Championship last weekend. After sweeping Winthrop, Minnesota (25-8) fell to Tennessee, Penn State's opponent this week, in three games. Northwestern (20-12) fought off a stingy Texas A&M squad in a five-game thriller, before falling by a total of seven points to Notre Dame in three games. Ohio State (22-9), which earned a 3-0 sweep over Marshall in the first round, fell by the same score in the second round to 20th-ranked Ohio. The Big Ten holds an overall NCAA Championship record of 177-107 (.623), dating back to 1983. The conference has boasted a combined winning percentage of .600 or higher in 11 of the last 13 years and a .500 or better record in each of the past 14 tournaments. The Big Ten is currently 9-3 (.750) in 2005. The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by University of Texas at San Antonio at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 15 and 17. • The Big Ten sent a total of six league teams to the NCAA Championship, which tied the Pac-10 and the SEC for the second-highest conference representation. The Big 12 will field seven teams. • This season marks the 11th time in league history the Big Ten has had six or more teams selected to the NCAA Championship. The conference sent a record eight teams to the NCAAs in 1999 and 2002 and boasted seven NCAA participants in 1995, 2003 and 2004. • The Big Ten is 60-33 (.645) with six participants in the tournament. In addition, the league is 40-21 (.656) when seven teams participate in the tournament and 22-15 (.595) when eight teams advance to postseason play. • The Big Ten holds an overall NCAA Championship record of 177-107 (.623), dating back to 1983. The conference has boasted a combined winning percentage of .600 or higher in 11 of the last 13 years and a .500 or better record in each of the past 14 tournaments. The Big Ten is currently 9-3 (.750) in 2005. • With Minnesota defeating USC in the 2004 national semifinals, the Big Ten (15-7) recorded a league-best 15 wins in the NCAA Tournament. The conference posted previous bests of 14-7 records in both 1995 and 1999. • Should Purdue defeat Washington and Wisconsin get passed Notre Dame, the two conference teams would meet in the regional final. It would mark the 11th time two league squads battled against each other in the history of the NCAA Championship. The 10th occasion occurred when Minnesota and Ohio State met in the 2004 regional finals. • In 1999, Penn State (36-1) became the lone school in the league to win the NCAA Championship. • Of the six Big Ten squads in the NCAA field, five have an all-time winning percentage of .500 or better, led by Minnesota, which concluded its 11th appearance with a 22-11 record (.667). Penn State follows at .662 (45-23) over 24 years, while Wisconsin's 13-year mark is 25-13 (.658). Ohio State's record of 24-16 (.600) spans 15 years, while Purdue is 9-8 (.529) over seven years. Northwestern finished its sixth tournament with an all-time mark of 1-6. • Penn State freshman outside hitter Nicole Fawcett set a new NCAA Tournament record for hitting percentage when she hit .889 with 16 kills and no errors on 18 attempts as the second-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team swept Long Island (30-11, 30-27, 30-8) in the second round. • Penn State is one of just three teams (Stanford, UC Santa Barbara) to have earned bids to all 25 NCAA Championships.
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