Northwestern University Athletics
Volleyball Team Earns Berth in NCAA Tournament
12/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 1, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - For the first time since the 1984 season, the Northwestern women's volleyball team has earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats (17-15 overall, 10-10 Big Ten) will take on 19th-ranked Missouri (25-7, 14-6 Big 12) at 5:30 p.m. Friday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Friday night's winner will take on the winner of the evening's second match between fourth-seeded Northern Iowa and Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 6 p.m. Saturday.
"We are extremely excited for the opportunity to play Missouri," Northwestern head coach Keylor Chan said. "They are one of the strongest teams in the Big 12, but we feel we match up well with them. The Big Ten was as tough as it has ever been this year and our strong finish helped propel us to the tournament."
The 18-year span in between tournament appearances is the longest of any team in this year's tournament field. California is also over a decade removed from its last tournament appearance, having last made it in 1989.
This will be the fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Northwestern after making field every year from 1981-84. However, the Wildcats have yet to win a tournament match, going 0-4 all-time. NU finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten this season.
The Big Ten landed eight teams in this year's tournament field, the most of any conference along with the Pac-10.
Missouri finished in third place in the Big 12, behind Nebraska and Kansas State. The Tigers fell to Illinois in the opening round of the tournament last year and to Utah State in the first round in 2000.
Mizzou and Northwestern do not have any common opponents this season. The Wildcats hold a 5-2 lead in the all-time series. The teams last met Sept. 19, 1998, with NU posting a 16-14, 15-3, 15-8 victory in the Wildcat Classic in Evanston.
