BATON ROUGE ? After winning its first SEC championship since 1991, the LSU volleyball team learned Sunday that it will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Maravich Center.
“We are thrilled but were a little antsy because of our loss on Friday night [at Rice] might have knock us out [from hosting],” head coach Fran Flory said. “I’m absolutely thrilled for our seniors to get to play in the Maravich Center for one more weekend.”
The Tigers (24-6) earned the No. 15 national seed and square off with Tulane (18-9) in the opening round. First serve has been announced for 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams split its regular season meetings in September.
Arizona (19-10) and Texas A&M (18-10) will meet Friday at 5 p.m. to open the Baton Rouge Regional. Saturday’s second round match is slated for 7:30 p.m.
“We thought if Texas A&M got in that they would end up here, and our prediction was true,” Flory said. “I also thought they would send a Big Ten or PAC 10 team over here, so we are not surprised by having Arizona here. Four great teams in this regional and it will be a great weekend of volleyball in the Maravich Center.”
Check back to LSUsports.net for ticket details.
NCAA Selection Show Quotes
11/29/09
Head Coach Fran Flory
On getting a 15 national seed and hosting the first two rounds at home …
“We are thrilled. We were a little antsy because of our loss on Friday night that that might knock us out, but when we saw Florida as a No. 16 seed we knew there was no way that we wouldn’t be a 15 seed or above. I’m absolutely thrilled for our seniors to get to play in the Maravich Center for one more weekend.”
On playing Tulane for a third time this season …
“Playing a team three times is never easy. They’re going to have a great game plan and we’re going to have a great game plan. When your players and your staff are that familiar with each other it truly comes down to execution. Hopefully our team will execute well, because I know there’s will. I think this will be a tough match Friday for both teams.”
On Texas A&M and Arizona …
“We’re not surprised. We thought if Texas A&M got in that they would end up here, and our prediction was true. I thought they would send a Big Ten or PAC 10 team over here, so we are not surprised by having Arizona here. They’re both physical teams, and it’s going to be a tough match between Texas A&M and Arizona. Four great teams in this regional and it will be a great weekend of volleyball in the Maravich Center.”
On the SEC having four teams in the tournament …
“We were thrilled to have four teams. I think the SEC has a great opportunity to have four teams advance to the Sweet 16. I think we’re the strongest that we’ve been one to four. If you look at the records between the four of us we have all beat each other, so I don’t think anyone is a favorite to advance. I think all four of us have a chance to really make a mark for the SEC in the tournament.”
2009 NCAA Volleyball Tournament
Gainesville Region
at University Park, Pa.
1 Penn St. vs. Binghamton
Army vs. Penn
at Gainesville, Fla.
Miami (Fla.) vs. Florida International
16 Florida vs. College of Charleston
at Columbus, Ohio
9 California vs. Lipscomb
Cincinnati vs. Ohio St.
at Los Angeles, Calif.
Georgia Tech vs. Baylor
8 UCLA vs. Long Beach St.
Stanford Region
at Champaign, Ill
5 Illinois vs. IP Fort Wayne
Milwaukee vs. Dayton
at Los Angeles, Calif.
USC vs. Oklahoma
12 Hawai’i vs. New Mexico
at Ann Arbor, Mich.
13 Michigan vs. Niagara
Ohio vs. Notre Dame
at Palo Alto, Calif.
Saint Mary’s vs. UC-Santa Barbara
4 Stanford vs. Long Island
Omaha Region
at Baton Rouge, La.
15 LSU (24-6) vs. Tulane (18-9)
Arizona (19-10) vs. Texas A&M (18-10)
at Austin, Texas
TCU vs. Rice
2 Texas vs. Texas St.
at Ames, Iowa
7 Iowa St. vs. George Mason
Wichita St. vs. Saint Louis
at Lincoln, Neb.
Washington St. vs. Northern Iowa
10 Nebraska vs. Coastal Carolina
Minneapolis Region
at Tallahassee, Fla.
3 Florida St. vs. Alabama A&M
Florida A&M vs. Jacksonville St.
at Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky vs. Michigan
14 Oregon vs. Clemson
at Knoxville, Tenn.
11 Minnesota vs. Louisville
Duke vs. Tennessee
at Fort Collins, Colo.
Colorado St. vs. Middle Tennessee
6 Washington vs. Northern Colorado