INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire women's volleyball team has been selected to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship, NCAA officials announced today.
The Blugolds will be part of an eight-team regional that will be contested at the University of St. Thomas (Minn.). The tournament will take place this Friday through Sunday (Nov. 12-14).
The Blugolds, who finished second in the WIAC Tournament this past weekend, hold a 24-9 overall record and will face Nebraska Wesleyan, an institution with dual membership in the NAIA and NCAA Division III. Nebraska Wesleyan has a 23-5 overall record and an 11-1 record facing NCAA teams. They will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
The Blugolds are facing Nebraska Wesleyan for the second time in the first round of the NCAA Championship as the two teams competed in 1989 (Blugolds won 3-0). The Blugolds are making their 13th overall and sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Championship.
The other matches on the opening night of the regional at St. Thomas will be Concordia-Moorhead vs. Witworth, St. Olaf vs. Northwestern and Puget Sound vs. St. Thomas.
Of the 63 teams in the field this season, the Blugolds faced nine of them in 13 matches. They finished with a 5-8 record.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the NCAA Championship will be contested on the campus of Washington University-St. Louis in Missouri Nov. 19-21.
