STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's volleyball team (28-1) will begin its quest for the program's eighth NCAA title at home this week, as the squad earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Stanford is scheduled to play its first round match at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30 at Maples Pavilion against Alabama State (23-17). The Lady Hornets won their third straight SWAC title to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Duke (16-11) and Loyola Marymount (20-9) will meet in the other first-round matchup at Maples Pavilion on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Blue Devils are making their 20th postseason appearance, while the Lions, who handed BYU its only loss of the season on Tuesday, finished fifth in the West Coast Conference. Both received at-large berths into the tournament.
The winners of the Stanford-Alabama State match and the LMU-Duke match will meet in the second round on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.
Should the Cardinal advance past the first weekend of play, it will also host the regional rounds on Dec. 7-8 at Maples Pavilion. The seeded teams in Stanford's region are No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Creighton and No. 16 Washington State. The Final Four will be held at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Dec. 13-15.
Stanford is making its 38th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and is one of just two teams to have made it to all 38 tournaments. The Cardinal will be seeking an NCAA record eighth national title, its 22nd Final Four trip and 16th appearance in the national title match.
The Cardinal wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a sweep over Bay Area rival California. Claiming its 18th league title, Stanford became the first Pac-12 team in 15 years to go undefeated in conference play (20-0). Eight Pac-12 schools earned bids to the NCAA Tournament, the most in the nation.
Tickets for the first and second rounds will be available online at www.GoStanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD beginning at 9 a.m. PT on Monday, Nov. 26.
