Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Draws Arizona in First Round of NCAA Tournament
11/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 28, 2010
2010 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship Bracket 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the first time since 2005, Northwestern will be a part of the Big Dance as the Wildcats are one of the 64 teams selected to the 2010 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship and will face Arizona Friday, December 3, at the McLeod Center on the campus of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
"I'm just extremely excited and happy for these girls," said head coach Keylor Chan. "From the first day of practice back in August, our one goal for the season was to reach the tournament, and they've worked extremely hard every day since then. For these seniors to finally get a chance to play in the postseason, it is something they more than deserve. We get to play some more volleyball this weekend, and will face a very good Arizona team, so its time to start getting ready for another set of Wildcats."
Northwestern will face Arizona out of the Pac-10 in a battle of Wildcats Friday afternoon, with host Northern Iowa and Missouri facing off that evening. The winners of the two first round matches will then meet Saturday evening. Northwestern is 1-2 all-time against Arizona, falling to the desert Wildcats 3-1 in 1989 and 3-0 in 2005 before notching a 3-2 victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena in 2006.
The trip to the postseason marks the eighth time the Wildcats have qualified for the NCAA tournament and the fourth under coach Chan. Northwestern's last appearance in the tournament was in 2005 when the Wildcats defeated Texas A&M 3-2 for the program's first-ever postseason victory before falling to Notre Dame 3-0 on its home court.
Northwestern closed out the regular season with a 3-1 upset of 19th-ranked Michigan Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, upping its overall record to 19-12 and 9-11 in Big Ten play. The Wildcats are ranked 23rd in the final NCAA RPI index of the regular season and are one of eight Big Ten schools competing in the tournament.
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