SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento State volleyball team will learn who, when and where it will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when the selection committee announces the 64-team field tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 26) on ESPNNEWS between noon and 12:30 p.m. PST.
The Hornets, who will be making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 years, will play their first round match on either Nov. 30 or Dec. 1. Sacramento State received an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament after winning last weekend’s Big Sky Conference Tournament championship.
Owner of the nation’s 15th-best winning percentage (.857), Sacramento State will bring a 30-5 record into the tournament. The Hornets have won seven in a row and 18 of the last 19 matches. In fact, the team’s only loss since Sept. 20 came at Portland State on Oct. 26. Sacramento State has been one of the nation’s top defensive teams, currently ranking third in the nation in blocks per game (3.61) and 10th in the nation in digs per game (19.50).
The NCAA has kept Sacramento State close to home for the first round of the NCAA Tournament nearly every year the Hornets have reached the event. Sacramento State has played in the Bay Area each of the last four years, including at Stanford in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and in Berkeley in 2004. The Hornets played in San Jose in 2000 and did not reach the tournament in 2001. The last time the Hornets were shipped more than 130 miles outside of Sacramento for the first round of the NCAA Tournament came in 1999, when the team played in Los Angeles.
