December 01, 2002
The Texas A&M volleyball team (20-9) received its 10th consecutive at-large berth to the NCAA Championship and will face No. 23 Utah (25-8) in the first round, hosted by No. 1-seed University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
"I'm excited and encouraged for our players," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "During the season we struggled at times but knew making the NCAA tournament was still a possibility if we finished strong. Making the tournament is only a positive for our program. Now it is a new season for our players, and they are excited to be seeing new competition."
The Aggies and Utes meet Friday at 7 p.m. (CST) at Lyon Recreation Center on the USC campus. The winner will face the winner of the USC/San Diego match Saturday at 9 p.m. (CST).
A&M, making its 14th overall NCAA appearance, enters the tournament riding a two-match winning streak after defeating both Texas and Iowa State in four games each to place fifth in the Big 12 Conference with a 12-8 mark. Last year, A&M advanced to the NCAA regional finals before being eliminated by eventual national champion Stanford.
Utah, which received an automatic berth by defeating Brigham Young in the championship match of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, is making its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAAs. The Utes, who fell to Stanford in the NCAA regional semifinals last year, concluded their regular season by upsetting No. 12 Arizona in four games.
TEXAS A&M NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES: A&M is making its 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and its 14th overall appearance (1981, '82, '85, '86, '93, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98,' 99, '00, '01 and '02) since the inception of the tournament in 1981...The Aggies, who have never lost an NCAA first-round match under 10th-year head coach Laurie Corbelli, sport a 16-13 (.552) all-time record in the NCAA tournament...Last year A&M equaled the 1999 team for the best finish in school history by advancing to the NCAA regional finals by sweeping Texas-Arlington and Texas in College Station, and then upsetting No. 6 Wisconsin in Palo Alto, Calif., before getting eliminated by eventual national champion Stanford...The Big 12 Conference is represented by five teams in the tournament field: Nebraska, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M...Nebraska earned the league's automatic bid for the fifth consecutive year...The Aggies are 2-7 against the tournament field...Other than a loss to Wisconsin, all other matches were against Big 12 foes.
NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES: This is the fifth year the tournament has included 64 teams...Thirty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 33 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket...Sixteen first-and second-round matches will be played Dec 5-8 on the campuses of participating institutions...Winners will advance to four regional tournaments, also played on the campuses of participating institutions, Dec. 12-15...The four regional winners will meet at the Final Four (hosted by the University of New Orleans and the Sun Belt Conference), Dec. 19 and 21 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, La...For complete tournament bracket and information, visit the NCAA official Website at www.NCAAchampionships.com.