Husker Volleyball To Host First, Second Rounds in NCAA Tournament

The Nebraska Volleyball team will be staying home for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Nebraska received the number four seed in the tournament.

Only four Big 12 teams made the NCAA tournament, amongst them #3 seed Texas, Kansas State, and Iowa State. The complete bracket layout may be found here.

The Husker women will face the Liberty Flames (25-8) on Friday after the conclusion of the first game between the UAB Blazers (26-7) and the Missouri State Bears (23-12).

Should the Huskers win out, they will continue on to the Seattle, WA regional. Regional sites are determined ahead of time, not by seeding or record. The four regional sites for 2008 are Austin, TX (Texas), State College, PA (Penn State), Fort Collins, CO (Colorado State), and Seattle, WA (Washington). 

Earlier, Nebraska won a share of the Big 12 title after Nebraska and Texas finished with the same record and split the series between them with each team winning at home. Not bad for a team from which not much was expected after having to replace uber-volleyballers Sarah Pavan, Christina Houghtelling, and Tracy Stalls. This year's title makes it five consecutive Big 12 titles.

Unfortunately, Nebraska will be without three-year starter middle blocker Kori Cooper who tore her ACL in the match against Texas in Austin.

The Full Brackets Are As Follows:

LEFT SIDE OF BRACKET

UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA REGIONAL

December 5-6 at University Park, Pennsylvania
*No. 1 Penn St. (32-0) vs. Long Island (19-11)
Yale (20-5) vs. Ohio (24-7)

December 5-6 at Dayton, Ohio
Western Mich. (26-6) vs. Dayton* (21-12)
Tennessee Tech (19-12) vs. No. 16 Tulane (27-5)

December 5-6 at Champaign, Illinois
*No. 9 Illinois (24-7) vs. Milwaukee (23-8)
Cincinnati (26-6) vs. Western Ky. (26-9)

December 5-6 at Berkeley, California
New Mexico St. (25-8) vs. St. Mary’s (Cal.) (20-7)
Siena (20-12) vs. *No. 8 California (23-6)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON REGIONAL

December 5-6 at Seattle, Washington
*No. 5 Washington (24-4) vs. Portland St. (20-8)
Santa Clara (17-9) vs. Kansas St. (24-7)

December 5-6 at Clemson, South Carolina
Tennessee (22-9) vs. Clemson* (22-9)
Furman (21-13) vs. No. 12 Utah (24-5)

December 4-5 at Lexington, Kentucky
No. 13 St. Louis (28-4) vs. Alabama A&M (12-14)
*Kentucky (26-5) vs. Michigan (24-8)

December 5-6 at Lincoln, Nebraska
UAB (26-7) vs. Missouri St. (23-12)
Liberty (25-8) vs. *No. 4 Nebraska (27-2)

RIGHT SIDE OF BRACKET

AUSTIN, TEXAS REGIONAL

December 5-6 at Austin, Texas
*No. 3 Texas (25-3) vs. Lamar (17-11)
Wichita St. (29-1) vs. Rice (23-7)

December 5-6 at Los Angeles, California
San Francisco (22-7) vs. Duke (24-8)
LSU (18-9) vs. *No. 14 UCLA (20-10)

December 5-6 at Washington, DC
No. 11 Oregon (23-8) vs. Delaware (19-15)
*American (24-8) vs. North Carolina (21-10)

December 5-6 at Minneapolis, Minnesota
UNI (25-8) vs. Iowa St. (19-12)
North Dakota St. (24-3) vs. *No. 6 Minnesota (26-6)

FORT COLLINS, COLORADO REGIONAL

December 5-6 at Los Angeles, California
No. 7 Hawaii (28-3) vs. Belmont (25-7)
San Diego (23-4) vs. *Southern California (16-11)

December 5-6 at West Lafayette, Indiana
Middle Tenn. (26-7) vs. Miami (Ohio) (21-11)
Louisville (19-10) vs. *No. 10 Purdue (24-8)

December 5-6 at Gainesville, Florida
*No. 15 Florida (25-3) vs. Florida A&M (14-12)
Florida Int’l (28-6) vs. Colorado St. (22-6)

December 5-6 at Stanford, California
Pepperdine (20-7) vs. Long Beach St. (25-5)
Albany (N.Y.) (23-8) vs. *No. 2 Stanford (26-3)