Nov. 25, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The top-ranked and 2012 Big Ten Champion Penn State women's volleyball team (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten) earned the No. 1 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions host America East champion Binghamton (13-17) on Friday, Nov. 30 at Rec Hall at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the tournament.
Yale (18-5), the Ivy League champion who earned its second straight bid to the tournament, will take on Bowling Green (21-10), the Mid-American Conference champion who is making its first appearance in the tournament since 1991, in the other first round match at Rec Hall at 5 p.m. The winners of each match will meet in the NCAA Second Round contest at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall on Saturday, Dec. 1.
"We're very excited to have the opportunity to play again in front of our fans at Rec Hall," said junior Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.). "Tournament team is always fun, and we hope we can continue to make the Penn State community proud."
Penn State, which won its ninth Big Ten title in the last 10 years, will be making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance. Penn State is one of just two teams in the nation, the other being Stanford, to be selected to every postseason event since its beginning in 1981. In the 64-team field where only the top 16 teams are seeded, the Nittany Lions are joined by No. 4 seed Nebraska, No. 8 seed Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue. The Big Ten Conference joins the Pac-12 with seven teams each selected to the tournament.
The Nittany Lions have earned the right to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament 26 times since 1981, including the last 23 seasons. Penn State has compiled an overall record of 74-26 in the event, including nine trips to the NCAA Semifinals (1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) and five National Championships (1999, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010). Penn State is 49-3 in NCAA tournament matches in Rec Hall.
The winner of the Penn State first and second round NCAA site will advance to the West Lafayette Regional on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8 at Purdue's Mackey Arena. The Penn State site winner will play the site winner from Lexington, Ky., which features No. 16 seed Kentucky, East Tennessee State, Notre Dame and Ohio State. The other Regional Semifinal match will feature the Tallahassee, Fla. site winner (No. 9 Florida State, Hofstra, Colorado State and Purdue) and the Minneapolis, Minn. site winner (No. 8 Minnesota, Liberty, Marquette and Creighton).
The winners from each of the four Regional sites (West Lafayette, Ind., Omaha Neb., Berkeley, Calif., and Austin, Texas) advance to the NCAA National Semifinals, which will be held on Thursday, Dec. 13 in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. The National Championship match is set for Saturday, Dec. 15.
ALL SESSION tickets for the First and Second rounds MUST be purchased at the Bryce Jordan Center Ticket Office or by calling 1-800-NITTANY beginning on Monday, Nov. 26 at 10 a.m. up until Friday, Nov. 30 at Noon. All session tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for youth and students and $8 for groups (20 or more). SINGLE SESSION tickets WILL ONLY be available at Rec Hall on Friday and Saturday and are $8 for adults, $6 for youth and students and $5 for groups.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2012 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.