The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced today the 64-team field for the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship and Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara each received an invitation to the postseason.
Overall, thirty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 33 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Stanford.
Winning its 10th Big West Conference championship this season awarded Long Beach State (22-8/12-4) the league's automatic qualifier to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Tournament for its 23rd consecutive appearance, 24th overall. Only three other teams have participated in 23 or more straight NCAA tournaments - Stanford, Nebraska and Penn State.
The 49ers open the 2009 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament traveling to Westwood, Calif., to face eighth-seeded UCLA (23-8) at Pauley Pavilion Friday, Dec. 4 at 8:00 p.m. The two teams met earlier this season at the Brea Embassy Suites Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif., with the 49ers sweeping the Bruins. UCLA, an at-large selection from the Pac-10, leads the overall series 52-21, but Long Beach State has won three of the previous five contests. The winner of the UCLA-Long Beach State match will face either Georgia Tech (21-9) or Baylor (22-9) Saturday, Dec. 5 in second round action.
Led by 2009 All-Big West First Team members Naomi Washington and Caitlin Ledoux, who rank third and sixth in the Big West Conference in kills, Long Beach State paces the conference with 13.5 kills per set. Washington currently sits third with an average of 4.17 kills per set, while last season's Big West Freshman of the Year, Ledoux, owns a sixth-best 3.60 kill average. The 49ers, paced by Britney Herzog's .288 clip, also own a league-best .245 hitting percentage.
Long Beach State, who enters this weekend's action winning eight of the last 10 contests, holds an impressive 48-20 NCAA record and has earned three national championships (1989, 1993, 1998) and two national champion runner-ups (1991, 2001).
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara received an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament after posting an overall mark of 22-7 and a Big West record of 11-5, tying for second place. The Gauchos drew West Coast Champion Saint Marys (22-4) in first round action. The two teams take to the court in Palo Alto, Calif., Dec. 4 at 5:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to the second round to face the victor of host and fourth-seed Stanford (21-7) and Long Island (21-13) the following night. The Gauchos and Gaels have only met two other times on the volleyball court with each team winning one contest.
Rebecca Saraceno, the 2009 Big West Player of the Year, leads the Gauchos and Big West with an impressive 4.49 kills per set average, while Stacey Schmidt ranks third in the league with a .333 hitting percentage. As a team, UC Santa Barbara sits second in hitting percentage (.242) and third in kills (13.61).
UC Santa Barbara is making its 27th overall NCAA appearance and first since the 2006 season. The Gauchos hold a 21-26 record in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to the elite eight in 1999 and 2000.