Volleyball headed to Thousand Oaks Regional to face Southwestern in First Round

INDIANAPOLIS, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team (26-5) faces a familiar foe, Southwestern (31-4), in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 13 at 12:30 p.m. in the Thousand Oaks Regional hosted by Cal Lutheran. The field of 64 teams was announced on Nov. 9 by the NCAA on the Division III Selection Show.

Cal Lutheran Host Release | Tournament Homepage

CMS earned the automatic bid from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) beating Cal Lutheran (3-0) in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament final on last Saturday night. This will be CMS' seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Last year, the Athenas won the Thousand Oaks Regional, beating Mary Hardin-Baylor (3-2), Colorado College (3-2) and Trinity (3-1) to advance to the Final Eight. In the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, CMS came up short to Wisconsin-Stevens Point (3-2) to end the most successful season in program history.

Of the eight regionals this year, the Thousand Oaks Regional has six Top-15 teams including No. 1 Washington-St. Louis (32-2), No. 8 Colorado College (34-3), No. 9 Cal Lutheran (25-5), No. 7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (26-5), No. 12 Southwestern (Tex.) (31-4) and No. 14 Texas-Dallas (30-2). UC Santa Cruz (11-11) and Whitworth (19-7) will round out the field.

Team-by-Team Information (courtesy of Kelcy Buck, WashU Athletics)

Washington University-St. Louis earned the automatic qualification from the University Athletic Association (UAA). WashU has won an NCAA Division III record 10 national championships, including most recently in 2009. The Bears are making their 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this year. CMS lost to WashU 3-2 at the Emory National Invitational in Sep.

UC Santa Cruz earned an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) title. The Banana Slugs are making their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and lost in the opening round in 2013. CMS beat UCSC 3-0 in the Posada Royale Invitational hosted by CLU earlier this season.

Southwestern clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) title. The Pirates are making their 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Regional semifinal in its last appearance in 2013. The Athenas hosted Southwestern on Oct. 16 and lost the 3-2 battle with the final set coming down to 16-14 in the Pirates' favor.

Colorado College earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) tournament. The Tigers are making their 26th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their 18th in a row. CMS beat CC in a regional semifinal last season, winning 3-2 to advance to the regional championship.

Cal Lutheran finished as the SCIAC runner-up to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Regals are making their eighth consecutive appearance in the tournament and 16th overall. CMS owns a 2-1 record against CLU this season including the Athenas' 3-0 victory in the SCIAC Tournament final after being crowned co-champions of the SCIAC regular season.

Texas-Dallas won the American Southwest Conference (ASC) championship to earn at automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history. The last time CMS faced the Comets was at the Posada Royale Invitational in 2013 with the Athenas winning 3-0.

Whitworth claimed the Northwest Conference (NWC) title to finish the regular season with a 19-7 overall record, and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pirates are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in a row and seventh all-time.

 Schedule

Friday, Nov. 13 (Quarterfinals)
Match 1 – 12:30 p.m. – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. Southwestern
Match 2 – 3:00 p.m. – UC Santa Cruz vs. Washington-St. Louis
Match 3 – 5:30 p.m. – Whitworth vs. Texas-Dallas
Match 4 – 8:00 p.m. – Cal Lutheran vs. Colorado College

Saturday, Nov. 14 (Semifinals)
Match 5 – 2:30 p.m. – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Match 6 – 5:00 p.m. – Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4

Sunday, Nov. 15 (Final)
Match 7 – 2:00 p.m. – Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6

The champion of the Thousand Oaks, Calif. Regional will advance to Grand Rapids, Mich. to play for a National Title Nov. 19-21, hosted by Calvin at the Van Noord Arena.

Tickets will be sold at the following per-day (all matches) prices: $10 (adults), $5 (students/senior citizens/military), FREE (under 2) at the main entrance of the Gilbert Arena. Merchandise will also be sold at the venue.

NCAA Release

Full Bracket: PDF | Interactive

By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director

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