UCSD Women’s Volleyball to Make Fifth Straight NCAA Tournament Appearance

LA JOLLA, Calif. – The 64-team field for the 2010 NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship was unveiled Sunday and UC San Diego will open the tourney against CCAA opponent Sonoma State on Nov. 18 at Cal State San Bernardino. The time of the match is yet to be announced.

The Tritons (18-8 overall, 15-7 CCAA) earned an at-large bid and picked up the fourth seed in the West Region, while the Seawolves (17-9 overall, 14-8 CCAA), who also received an at-large selection, will be the fifth seed.

It is the 10th overall and fifth consecutive NCAA appearance for UC San Diego, which won 11 of its last 12 regular season matches. The Tritons were ranked fourth in the region for the second week in a row and received votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.

The Seawolves are making their fourth overall and third straight appearance in the NCAAs. They’ll be looking for their first ever postseason win.

UCSD swept the regular season series against Sonoma State with a 3-0 victory in La Jolla on Sept. 11 and a 3-2 win in Rohnert Park on Oct. 15. UC San Diego is 22-5 all-time vs. Sonoma State and has won the last four meetings.

Cal State San Bernardino, which is riding a 43-match home win streak, will play host to the West Region matches. As the top seed, the Coyotes will face No. 8 BYU-Hawaii. No. 2 Seattle Pacific will take on No. 7 Cal State Los Angeles and No. 3 Western Washington will play sixth-seeded Alaska Anchorage. Following Thursday’s opening round matches, the two semifinals will be played Friday and the regional title match will be contested Saturday.

Eight teams were selected from each of the following eight regions:  Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West. A total of 22 teams earned an automatic berth in the tournament by virtue of winning their conference crown. Cal State San Bernardino, ranked sixth in the AVCA Coaches Poll, won the CCAA title with a 21-1 mark (25-2 overall). Cal State East Bay and UCSD tied for second place at 15-7 and Sonoma State was fourth with its 14-8 record.

Eight eight-team regionals will be played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches and will not include a third-place match. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the finals, Dec. 2-4, on the campus of Bellarmine University, as part of the NCAA Division II Fall National Championship Festival. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches.