Southwest Minnesota State Set to Host NCAA Central Region Volleyball Tournament

MARSHALL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball program is set to host the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament today. This is the first time in school history that the NCAA Central Region Tournament will be hosted by SMSU. The tournament begins Thursday at noon and runs through Saturday, Nov. 20, in Marshall.

The eight-team region tournament will be held at the PE Gym on the campus of SMSU with the quarterfinals set for Thursday, Nov. 18, the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 19 and the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 20.  The winner of the tournament will advance to the NCAA II Elite Eight held on Dec. 2-4 at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky.

Southwest Minnesota State (26-3) will be making its seventh straight NCAA tournament appearance and eighth in school history.  SMSU will square off with No. 8 seed Colorado School of Mines (19-9) in the quarterfinals on Thursday night starting at 7:30 p.m.  The winner of the SMSU/CSM match will play the winner of No. 4 seed Nebraska-Kearney (29-4) and No. 5 seed Minnesota Duluth (23-5) which will be played Thursday at 5 p.m.  On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed and three-time defending NCAA national champion Concordia University (26-4) will face off against No. 7 seed Minnesota State, Mankato (20-7) on Thursday at 12 p.m., while No. 3 seed Wayne State (26-3) will battle No. 6 seed Metro State (Colo.) (24-6) starting at 2:30 p.m.

The semifinals will take place on Friday, Nov. 19, at 5 and 7:30 p.m., with the finals scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20, starting at 7 p.m.

Ticket prices for the tournament are $8 for adult general admission and $5 for student general admission.  Children 5-and-under are free.  For more tournament information, log onto www.SMSUmustangs.com

Concordia University is the three-time defending region champion.

NCAA Central Region Tournament

* All matches will be held at the PE Gym in Marshall, Minn.

Thursday, Nov. 18

Match #1    12 p.m. (No. 2 Concordia vs. No. 7 Minnesota State, Mankato)
Match #2    2:30 p.m. (No. 3 Wayne State vs. No. 6 Metro State)
Match #3    5 p.m. (No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney vs. No. 5 Minnesota Duluth)
Match #4     7:30 p.m. (No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State vs. No. 8 Colorado School of Mines)

Friday, Nov. 19

Match #5    5 p.m. (Winner of Match #1 vs. Winner of Match #2)
Match #6    7:30 p.m. (Winner of Match #3 vs. Winner of Match #4)

Saturday, Nov. 20

Match #7     7 p.m. (NCAA Central Regional Championship Match)

Tournament Website:   http://www.smsumustangs.com/2010centralregional