SACRAMENTO, Calif. - For the fourth-consecutive season, the Sacramento State volleyball team will compete in the NCAA Division I Tournament, as announced Sunday. The Hornets, who received an automatic berth after winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament a week ago, were placed in the West Region and will face host and No. 4-seed Santa Clara (26-4) in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. The winner of Thursday's match will square off against the winner of the San Jose State (22-9) and Long Beach State (22-7) Friday night at 7 p.m.

Although Santa Clara is the host institution, all matches will be played at the San Jose Event Center, located on the San Jose State campus. Santa Clara's facility (Leavey Events Center) is currently under renovations, forcing the change in venue to the San Jose Event Center.

Sacramento State enters the tournament with a 21-11 overall record including an 11-3 mark over the team's final 14 matches. The Hornets, who finished with a 12-4 Big Sky record and were crowned conference champions for the fourth-consecutive season, made their first appearance in the NCAA Div. I Tournament in 1997 when they lost to Pacific, 3-1, in the first round at the University of Washington. In 1998, the Hornets defeated Houston, 3-0, in the first round before dropping their second round match to host Pacific, 3-0. Last season, the Hornets lost their first round match to Minnesota, 3-0, in Los Angeles.

Sacramento State was the only Big Sky school selected to this year's field of 64 after three teams from the conference had been selected in 1999 (Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State).

Top-ranked Nebraska earned the No. 1 seed in the Central Region, Hawai'i received the No. 1 seed in the West, USC earned the top seed in the Pacific and Wisconsin will be the top seed in the Mideast.