STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's volleyball team (18-10) will begin its quest for the program's 10th NCAA title on the road, facing Iowa State in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Stanford is scheduled to play its first round match 2:30 p.m. PT on Friday, Dec. 3 at Minnesota's Maturi Pavilion. Iowa State (16-11) received an at-large berth into the tournament. It will be the second meeting between the Cardinal and Cyclones in the postseason. Stanford swept Iowa State in the NCAA regional semifinal in Berkeley in 2012.
No. 12 seed Minnesota (20-8) and South Dakota (20-9) will meet in the other first-round matchup at Maturi Pavilion on Friday. The Gophers tied for third in the Big Ten Conference, while the Coyotes won the Summit League Tournament championship to earn an automatic bid.
The winners of the Stanford-Iowa State match and the Minnesota-South Dakota match will meet in the second round on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. PT.
The top 4 seeds - No. 1 Louisville, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 4 Wisconsin - will host the Regionals should they all advance past the first weekend. Should the Cardinal win two matches, it is matched up with No. 5 seed Baylor and would play at No. 4 seed Wisconsin (should all the seeds hold). The Final Four will be held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 16-18.
Stanford is making its 40th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth under head coach Kevin Hambly. The Cardinal will be seeking its 24th Final Four trip and 18th appearance in the national title match.
The Cardinal wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a sweep at Bay Area rival California. Stanford went 13-7 in Pac-12 Conference play and finished in a tie for fourth place. Along with the Cardinal, six Pac-12 schools earned bids to the NCAA Tournament – No. 13 seed UCLA, No. 15 seed Washington, Oregon, Utah and Washington State.
Single session tickets will become available Monday, Nov. 29 starting at 1 p.m. CT at gophersports.com.
