Sun Belt Conference: Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky Receive NCAA Volleyball Tournament Berths
NEW ORLEANS - Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky earned berths into the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, both teams learned on Sunday.
The two tournament bids mark the fourth consecutive year that the Sun Belt has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Middle Tennessee (29-5) will face Louisville (22-7) in the First Round on Friday at Holloway Gymnasium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
WKU (27-8) will face Cincinnati (29-5) on Friday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill., hosted by the University of Illinois.
The first and second round games will be held Friday, Dec. 3 and Saturday, Dec. 4 with the winner advancing to the Austin, Texas, Regional. Times for the matches are to be announced.
After winning the regular season conference title and the SBC Tournament title, Middle Tennessee earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Raiders will be making their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. In 2008, Middle Tennessee also made a trip to West Lafayette, knocking off Mid-American Conference foe Miami before falling in a five-set heart breaker to Purdue. The Blue Raiders enter the tournament ranked with an RPI of 21 and having received seven votes in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll released Nov. 22.
WKU received an at-large bid after advancing to the SBC Championship match and are ranked with an RPI of 33. WKU and Cincinnati faced off earlier this season on Oct. 19 in Bowling Green, Ky., with the Bearcats claiming a 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 21-25, 24-26) win over the Lady Toppers.
WKU will be making its fifth trip to the NCAA tournament and first since 2008 when it earned the Sun Belt’s automatic bid. That year, the Lady Toppers also faced Cincinnati at the same site in Champaign, falling 3-2.
