University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Hold No. 12 Seed In NCAA Tournament
11/28/2021 8:15:00 PM | Volleyball
Minnesota plays South Dakota on Friday to open NCAA's
MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota volleyball program received the No. 12 overall seed in the 2021 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championships and will host the first and second Round of the tournament at Maturi Pavilion. The first and second rounds will take place Friday, Dec. 3 and Saturday, Dec. 4, it was announced tonight on ESPNU.
Stanford and Iowa State will compete in the first match of the evening, set for 4:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Gophers facing South Dakota at 7 p.m. The winner of each match will advance to the Second Round, set for 7 p.m., Saturday. All matches will be played at Maturi Pavilion. Should the Gophers advance out of the second round, Minnesota is in the Wisconsin Region and will travel to Madison, Wis., for the NCAA Regionals from Dec. 9-11. Columbus, Ohio is the host city for the NCAA Championships, Dec. 16-18 as the national semifinals and championship match will be played at Nationwide Arena.natio
The 2021 season marks the 26th year the Golden Gophers have advanced to the NCAA tournament. Receiving an at-large bid this year, the Gophers have now advanced to the tournament in seven straight seasons and nine of 10 years under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
Minnesota has had a top-16 seed the past six seasons. The Gophers were the No. 2 seed in 2015, 2016 and 2018, No. 3 in 2020-21, and the No. 7 seed in both 2017 and 2019.
Minnesota is one of eight Big Ten teams to make the 2021 NCAA tournament and is one of the league's five seeded teams. Wisconsin holds the highest seed at No. 4, followed by Purdue (6), Ohio State (9), Nebraska (10) and Minnesota (12). Michigan, Penn State and Illinois also advanced to the tournament. In all, the Gophers faced 13 teams that made up the field of 64. Along with the seven other Big Ten teams Minnesota faced this season, the Gophers also competed against Baylor, Iowa State, Florida, Oregon, Stanford and Texas.
The Gophers enter the NCAA tournament with a 20-8 (15-5 Big Ten) overall record. They tied for third in the conference with Ohio State and Purdue. Wisconsin (17-3) finished first, followed by Nebraska (16-4) in second place.
Ticket Information for NCAA First and Second Round
Gopher Volleyball season ticket holders with a Gopher Score rank in the top 1,000 can purchase tickets for the NCAA First and Second rounds of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship immediately after the selection show concludes Sunday night. Single session tickets will become available Monday, Nov. 29 starting at 1 p.m. Central time.
First and Second Round Schedule:
Friday, Dec. 3
4:30 p.m. - Stanford vs. Iowa State
7 p.m. (or 30 minutes following the first match) - South Dakota vs. Minnesota
Saturday, Dec. 4
7 p.m. - Game One Winner vs. Game Two Winner