Volleyball Earns Bid to NCAA Tournament
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team earned an at-large bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and will face the College of Charleston in the first round.
The Hurricanes (21-5, 15-5 ACC) return to the biggest stage of collegiate volleyball for the ninth time in program history. Miami will travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face the Cougars (27-5, 15-1 CAA) Thursday at 4:30 p.m., at the University of Florida’s Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
“It’s good to be back in the tournament,” Miami head coach Jose “Keno” Gandara said. “It’s always a goal for our team to do enough to be recognized and invited to the NCAA tournament. It’s not easy to do and I am proud of the way the girls handled the season and gave ourselves a chance to be selected. I’m very happy.”
Miami earned its bid after finishing tied for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. The Hurricanes are led by senior outside hitter Olga Strantzali and redshirt junior setter Haley Templeton, who each earned two ACC Player of the Week honors in the regular season. Going into the last week of ACC play, no other team in the conference had earned four weekly awards in 2017. Strantzali topped the ACC in kills per set (4.56) and points per set (5.18), while Templeton finished the regular season with ACC-best 10.73 assists per set.
Charleston received an at-large bid to the tournament as well after losing only one Colonial Athletic Association match in the regular season and advancing all the way to the conference championship match, where the Cougars lost to James Madison in straight sets. Charleston is the first team from the CAA to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in conference history.
The rivalry between the two teams dates back to 1975 and features four previous meetings, of which Miami has won three. The Canes’ last meeting with the Cougars was in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA tournament in Gainesville, when Charleston came out as a winner in a five-set thriller.
“I think we will do a good job of getting ready,” Gandara said. “We will make sure that the girls understand that the only difference is this opponent. We have done this before and we are prepared to play our best volleyball at this time of the year. You build on your routines all year for this moment.”
The winner of Thursday’s matchup will face the winner of the matchup between the No. 2 Florida, who will host through the first two rounds of the tournament, and Alabama State. First serve of that match will be Friday night at 7 p.m. For full tournament bracket, click here.
