Leopards Receive At-Large Berth To NCAA Volleyball Tournament
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For the 10th consecutive year, the University of La Verne receives a berth to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship Tournament. This time around, the Leopards earned an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAAs and will face Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran Thursday at the University of Redlands.
La Verne (21-13) is among three SCIAC schools in the region field. West Region host and SCIAC Champion Redlands earned the automatic bid while California Lutheran also received an at-large bid. Puget Sound and Chapman University also received bids in the seven-team field.
Colorado College is the West Region's #1 seed and will receive a first-round bye.
Pacific Lutheran is 20-6 overall, having gone 16-0 in conference play. The Lutes are ranked #15 in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and have captured four consecutive Northwest Conference titles. This is Pacific Lutheran's sixth appearance at the NCAA Championships since 1999. The last time La Verne faced the Lutes in NCAA Tournament play was 2004, when the Leopards prevailed 3-1 in the regional semifinals.
#4 seed Puget Sound battles #5 Cal Lutheran Regals to open competition at 2 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the #2 seed Lutes and the #7 Leopards facing off at 4:30 p.m. #3 Redlands takes on #6 Chapman University at 7 p.m. to round out Thursday's competition.
Play continues on Friday with top-seeded Colorado College and the winner of the Puget Sound-Cal Lutheran match battling it out at 4:30 p.m. The winners of the other two matches compete at 7 p.m.
The regional final takes place at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The Leopards are making their 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance, claiming national titles in 1982 and 2001.
