A&M Selected to Host NCAA Volleyball Regional
Feb 21, 2005 | Volleyball
February 21, 2005
Texas A&M's G. Rollie White Coliseum is one of four sites selected to host the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Regional, the NCAA Volleyball Committee recently announced.
"We are very pleased to be selected as one of four hosts for the 2005 NCAA Volleyball Regional Championships," A&M director of athletics Bill Byrne said. "Our crowds at volleyball are among the very best in the country. They are very knowledgeable and very supportive. We should have another excellent team in 2005 and one of the ways to help Build Champions is to host conference and NCAA Championship events."
Regional matches will be held December 8-9, 9-10 or 10-11, and ticket information will be announced at a later date.
This is the third year volleyball regional sites have been predetermined. Others sites selected to hold regional matches in 2005 are the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., hosted by the University of Nebraska; the Recreation Building in University Park, Pa., hosted by Penn State; and Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., hosted by Stanford University.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring our regional championships to these four outstanding sites," said Julie Hermann, chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee. "Having the opportunity to pre-select our regionals has made these rounds of the championship stronger than ever and a better student-athlete experience. The volleyball committee felt this year's selections were very capable of building on this success and continuing to take it to the next level."
"Just knowing the spirit of the 12th Man and the noise that is generated at G. Rollie during matches, the spirit of Texas A&M and having the band and our Yell Leaders, just the whole environment...word has gotten out that it is a super place to play volleyball," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said.
"(The Committee) knows that A&M does a great job of hosting and we have always had great feedback from our guests when we've hosted whether it's been a tournament or an NCAA event. They realize that it is a lot of years in the making of trying to keep the program consistently in the top 20, and being chosen to host regionals is one more way to reward a top-notch program in our country, and it is nice reward for all those years of hard work."
Texas A&M, which has participated in 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments, has hosted first and/or second-round matches eight times since Corbelli was hired in 1993. The Aggies, who have never lost a home NCAA tournament match, have made five regional appearances during Corbelli's 12 years at the helm, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history in 1999 and again in 2001.
"We are always trying to get first and second rounds," Corbelli said, "and every year we talk about taking care of business in the Big 12, staying highly ranked and trying to get the home tournament for first and second rounds. Knowing that we could play at home for third and fourth rounds, I was really, really excited."
The winner from each regional will advance to the Final Four to be held in San Antonio, Texas, at the Alamodome, December 15 and 17.
In addition to serving as a host site for the NCAA volleyball regionals in 2005, A&M is slated to host the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships May 21-30 and the Women's College Cup Dec. 2 and 4.
For more information about the 2005 volleyball championship, visit www.ncaasports.com or http://www.saloc.org/index.html.
