WWU plays No. 6 seed Tarleton State in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at
11:30 am PT/2:30 pm ET. PHOTO: WWU Athletics
WWU Volleyball Plays NCAA II Quarterfinal Today
November 29, 2018
The Western Washington University volleyball team opens play today in the NCAA D2 national championship tournament at the Fall Championships Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The No. 3 national seed Vikings, take a 28-match winning streak into its national quarterfinal match against Tarleton State University (32-4). The match starts at 2:30 pm ET/11:30 am PT at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University.
WWU (28-3) defeated regional rival Cal State San Bernardino in an instant classic five-set match November 17th in Carver Gym, winning its third regional title in program history. Western also advanced to the national tournament in 2007 in Topeka, Kansas (played for the national championship) and 2015 in Tampa, Florida (Final Four).
This marks the second national tournament appearance for the Vikings five seniors, who advanced to the Final Four at the 2015 championship in Tampa, Florida. The senior class of Abby Phelps, Brette Boesel, Michaela Hall, Aubrey Stephens and Taylor Lyall have combined for a 105-21 record (.833) during their four seasons on the court.
All eight champions of the nation's eight regional tournaments were re-seeded November 18th by the NCAA national committee. The University of Tampa earned the No. 1 seed while Wheeling Jesuit (2) and Wingate (4) joined Western as the top four seeds. Washburn (5), Tarleton State (6), Lewis (7) and American International (8) rounded out the national tournament field.
The eight NCAA Division II regional champions will play a single-elimination tournament to determine the new national champion. The volleyball competition is part of the NCAA Division II National Championship Fall Festival, where men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and women’s field hockey will compete for national titles.
HOW TO WATCH…all matches in the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship will feature a high-quality webcast with Lincoln Rose and Debbie Hendricks calling the action…links for the live webcast will be posted on WWUVikings.com/Live, in addition to how to access live statistical updates via StatBroadcast.
FALL FESTIVAL…the city of Pittsburgh is the site of the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championships Festival, with SportsPITTSBURGH, Clarion University and Slippery Rock University serving as hosts for the championships, taking place November 27-December 1…more than 900 student-athletes will represent their schools by competing for national championships in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's field hockey and women's volleyball…more information on the NCAA II National Championships Festival can be found online at sportspittsburgh.com.
A WESTERN PARTY…the Vikings are one of four schools that will have three programs represented at the Fall Festival…in addition to volleyball, the WWU men’s and women’s cross country teams are competing in the NCAA II Championship that will be held Saturday at Schenley Park…WWU joins Shippensburg (Field Hockey, M/W XC), Grand Valley State (Women’s Soccer, M/W XC) and Lee University (Women’s Soccer, M/W XC) as the four teams that will have the most student-athletes competing in Pittsburgh.
-- @WWUVolleyball --
