For the fifth consecutive year, three Conference USA teams have advanced to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati will represent the league at the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

THREE C-USA VOLLEYBALL TEAMS HEAD TO NCAA’S
For the fourth consecutive year, C-USA has three teams in the 2002 NCAA Tournament

CHICAGO – For the fifth consecutive year, three Conference USA teams have advanced to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. South Florida (29-6), who earned C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAAs after capturing the 2002 Healthy Choice Conference USA Tournament, takes on in-state rival Florida State in a first round showdown on Friday, Dec. 6 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center at the University of Florida. Louisville (27-5), who claimed a share of the 2002 C-USA regular season title with South Florida, will meet Ball State on Friday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Cincinnati (23-8) travels to Lincoln, Neb., to face Arizona State on Friday. Game times for the contests will be announced Monday afternoon.

The Big Ten and Pacific-10 led all conferences with eight teams selected. The Big 12 placed five, and the Big West and Atlantic Coast conferences each placed four teams in the field, followed by Conference USA, West Coast and Western Athletic conferences with three apiece and the Big East, Mountain West and Southeastern conferences with two. The first and second round matches will be played at 16 different campus sites from Dec 5-7, and the regionals will be held Dec. 12-15 at campus locations yet to be determined. The University of New Orleans and the Sun Belt Conference will host the national semifinals and finals Dec. 19-21 in New Orleans at the New Orleans Sports Arena

Louisville will be making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth in the last 10 years. The Cardinals advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1996 and 1998. Last season, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell to No. 14 Pacific, 3-1.

Cincinnati is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth overall. Last year, the Bearcats defeated Xavier in the first round, before falling to No. 12 Ohio State. Cincinnati, who posted their eighth-consecutive 20-plus win season with a 23-8 record, will face Arizona State in the first round.

After sweeping Louisville in the finals of the 2002 Healthy Choice C-USA Tournament, South Florida earned its second NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Nancy Mueller and sixth in the last eight years. South Florida faces Florida State for the second time this season. The Bulls defeated the Seminoles, 3-2 (23-30, 30-28, 30-28, 27-30, 15-4) in non-league action on Oct. 29.

For the last five seasons, Conference USA has had at least three teams in the NCAA Tournament. C-USA has produced 23 NCAA teams in its first eight years.

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2002 First Round NCAA Tournament Matchups
WEST REGIONAL
Dec. 6-7 at Southern California
Southern California (25-1) vs. San Diego (25-7)
Utah (25-8) vs. Texas A&M (20-9)

Dec. 7-8 at Notre Dame
Michigan State (19-11) vs. George Mason (22-7)
College of Charleston (29-5) vs. Notre Dame (23-7)

Dec. 5-6 at Pepperdine
Pepperdine (23-6) vs. Cal Poly (15-12)
UCLA (19-13) vs. Long Beach State (28-3)

Dec. 5-6 at UC Santa Barbara
Santa Clara (24-6) vs. California (19-11)
Fresno State (23-6) vs. UC Santa Barbara (28-2)

EAST REGIONAL
Dec. 6-7 at Florida
Florida (30-2) vs. UCF (22-12)
Florida State (21-12) vs. South Florida (29-6)

Dec. 6-7 at Penn State
Temple (26-6) vs. Manhattan (30-2)
Pennsylvania (22-4) vs. Penn State (24-7)

Dec. 6-7 at Kansas State
Washington State (21-7) vs. Oral Roberts (22-10)
Michigan (16-14) vs. Kansas State (20-8)

Dec. 6-7 at Northern Iowa
Missouri (25-7) vs. Northwestern (17-15)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (20-13) vs. Northern Iowa (32-2)

CENTRAL REGIONAL
Dec. 6-7 at Nebraska
Nebraska (27-1) vs. Tennessee-Martin (24-5)
Arizona State (24-11) vs. Cincinnati (23-8)

Dec. 6-7 at Wisconsin
Miami (Florida) (25-5) vs. Duke (24-9)
Alabama A&M (24-7) vs. Wisconsin (23-8)

Dec. 5-6 at North Carolina
North Carolina (30-3) vs. Winthrop (28-10)
American (26-7) vs. South Carolina (21-6)

Dec. 5-6 at Hawaii
Washington (19-10) vs. Colorado State (22-9)
Western Kentucky (33-4) vs. Hawaii (30-1)



PACIFIC REGIONAL
Dec. 6-7 at Minnesota
Minnesota (30-5) vs. New Hampshire (23-10)
Florida A&M (23-6) vs. Georgia Tech (32-5)

Dec. 5-6 at Arizona
Texas (22-8) vs. Indiana (20-12)
Texas-Arlington (26-6) vs. Arizona (17-11)

Dec. 6-7 at Ohio State
Ohio State (19-10) vs. Robert Morris (27-11)
Ball State (25-7) vs. Louisville (27-5)

Dec. 6-7 at Stanford
Pacific (California) (18-12) vs. Nevada (22-9)
Sacramento State (24-10) vs. Stanford (27-4)


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