November 25, 2002
Truman Volleyball Earns Second Straight Trip To NCAA Elite Eight
The Truman State University volleyball team (26-8) earned its second straight South Central Regional Championship last weekend and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. The final three rounds will be played on Dec. 5-7 at the Event Center in Canyon, Texas.
The Bulldogs face the tournament favorite on Dec. 5, the host school and number one team in the country, West Texas A&M. The Lady Buffs will be riding a 29-match winning streak when they take on Truman. West Texas A&M, winners of the Southwest Region last weekend, is 35-2 on the year and the Lady Buffs won the Lone Star Conference with a perfect record. The two teams have only met once before with West Texas A&M winning 3-2 in a neutral site game in Warrensburg, Mo.
Truman received a bye in the first-round of the South Central Regional last weekend and faced North Alabama in the semifinals. The Bulldogs jumped ahead 2-0 only to see the Lady Lions come back to tie it. Thanks to two key blocks by Tiffany Graham, who had a career-high 20 kills in the match, Truman escaped with a fifth-game win by a 15-13 score. In the regional finals, Truman swept MIAA rival Central Missouri despite the Jennies recording 11 more kills than the Bulldogs. Shelby Ortwerth and Jessica Sears were both named to the South Central Region all-tournament team.
NCAA Volleyball Elite Eight
Dec. 5-7 (Event Center, Canyon, Texas)
Complete Bracket
NCAA Quarterfinals (Dec. 5)
#3 BYU-Hawaii vs. #25 New Haven (12:00 p.m.)
#2 Northern Colorado vs. #7 Tampa (2:30 p.m.)
#4 Grand Valley State vs. Edinboro (5 p.m.)
#10 Truman vs. #1 West Texas A&M (7:30 p.m.)
NCAA Semifinals (Dec. 6)
Northern Colorado/Tampa winner vs. BYU-Hawaii/New Haven winner (5:00 p.m.)
Grand Valley State/Edinboro winner vs. Truman/West Texas A&M winner
(7:30 p.m.)
NCAA Finals (Dec. 7)
Semifinal winners (7:30 p.m.)