2005 NCAA Division I Championships - Stanford to host Dec. 2-3, Dec. 9-10

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Stanford Earns Berth In 2005 NCAA Tournament Cardinal to host 1st and 2nd round matches (Dec. 2-3); Palo Alto Regional (Dec. 9-10) Nov. 27, 2005

Indianapolis, In - The fifth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team has earned its 25th straight bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, and will also host first and second matches on Dec. 2-3 at Maples Pavilion, and the Palo Alto Regional on Dec. 9-10.

"I am very happy to be playing at home," said fifth-year head coach John
Dunning, who directed this year's Cardinal squad to a 25-5 overall record,
and second place in the Pac-10 with a 14-4 record. Stanford is the defending
NCAA champion.

"There is a distinct advantage to playing at home," said Dunning, who also
coached the Cardinal to the NCAA crown in 2001. "I'm proud of the way the
team has played this year."

NCAA Tournament play begins for Stanford on Friday, Dec. 2, against Nevada
of the Western Athletic Conference at 7:00 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. At 5:00
p.m., Santa Clara, representing the West Coast Conference, will face Big Sky
Conference member Sacramento State. The two winners will meet on Saturday at
7:00 p.m.

The second round winners will move on to regional play on Dec. 9-10. The
pre-determined regional sites are Palo Alto, California; Omaha, Nebraska;
State College, Pennsylvania; and College Station, Texas. The regional
winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by University of
Texas at San Antonio at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on December 15
and 17.

"The team is really excited," said junior outside hitter Kristin Richards.
"We'll be playing at home which will be a big advantage for us. However,
this won't be easy. There are some really good teams."
Tickets for the Dec. 2-3 and Dec. 9-10 NCAA Tournament matches will go on
sale on Monday (Nov. 28) at the Stanford Ticket Office (1-800-STANFORD). For
the Dec. 2-3 matches at Stanford, ticket prices are as follows:
$20 - Adult reserved (2-day pass)
$14 - Adult general admission (2-day pass)
$10 - Student/Child/Senior general admission (2-day pass)
$12 - Adult reserved (single day)
$8 - Adult general admission (single day)
$6 - Student/Child/Senior general admission (single day)
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Stanford
Stanford (25-5) vs. Nevada (18-12) - 7:00 p.m.
Santa Clara (23-4) vs. Sacramento State (26-8) - 5:00 p.m.
December 2-3 at Southern California
Pepperdine (17-11) vs. Brigham Young (25-3)
UC Santa Barbara (21-8) vs. Southern California (16-10)
December 2-3 at Ohio State
Ohio State (21-8) vs. Marshall (26-5)
Ohio (31-2) vs. Alabama (23-10)
December 2-3 at Utah
Utah (22-8) vs. Loyola Marymount (19-10)
Utah State (21-12) vs. Arizona (22-5)
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced on Sunday the
64-team field for the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.
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 Nebraska, Penn State, Washington and
Arizona. Stanford is seeded fifth.

Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception
that teams from the same conference were not paired during the first and
second rounds.

The Big 12 Conference led all conferences with seven teams selected. Three
conferences landed six teams including the Big Ten Conference, Pacific-10
Conference (Stanford, Arizona, California, UCLA, USC, Washington) and the
Southeastern Conference. Stanford is one of three teams (along with Penn
State and UC Santa Barbara) that have earned bids to all 25 NCAA
Championships. Four teams are making their initial appearances in the
tournament: State University of New York at Binghamton, Virginia
Commonwealth University, Jacksonville State, and Alabama.

In the 25-year history of the championship, nine schools have been crowned
champion, eight of which are in this year's bracket, including the defending
champion Stanford. The Cardinal has won NCAA titles six times (1992, 1994,
1996, 1997, 2001, 2004). Other past winners making the field, in addition to
Stanford are Hawaii (1982, 83, 87), Long Beach State (1989, 93, 98), UCLA
(1984, 90, 91), Nebraska (1995 and 2000), USC (1981, 2002, 03), Penn State
(1999) and Texas (1988). First and second round matches will be played at 16
campus sites. A list of the other first-round match-ups follows.

OMAHA, NEBRASKA REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Nebraska
Nebraska (28-1) vs. Alabama A&M (15-11)
American (25-9) vs. Duke (23-7)

December 2-3 at UCLA
UCLA (18-10) vs. Kansas (15-14)
Long Beach State (25-6) vs. San Diego (22-5)

December 2-3 at Louisville
Louisville (29-2) vs. Western Kentucky (31-2)
Kentucky (17-11) vs. Maryland (27-4)

December 1-2 at Florida
Kansas State (20-10) vs. Florida A&M (22-5)
Florida Atlantic (29-2) vs. Florida (30-2)

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS REGIONAL
December 2-3 at Colorado State
Washington (26-1) vs. Siena (20-11)
Colorado (15-12) vs. Colorado State (20-8)

December 2-3 at North Carolina
Purdue (23-8) vs. Virginia Commonwealth (22-11)
College of Charleston (30-1) vs. North Carolina (23-9)

December 2-3 at Wisconsin
Wisconsin (23-6) vs. Loyola (Illinois) (13-17)
Valparaiso (27-7) vs. California (18-10)

December 1-2 at Notre Dame
Northwestern (19-11) vs. Texas A&M (16-13)
Dayton (24-10) vs. Notre Dame (28-3)

STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Texas
Hawaii (25-6) vs. Texas State (17-14)
Texas (23-4) vs. LSU (21-7)
December 2-3 at Missouri
Arkansas (20-11) vs. St. Mary's (California) (19-9)
Missouri State (24-8) vs. Missouri (22-4)
December 2-3 at Tennessee
Minnesota (24-7) vs. Winthrop (28-5)
Jacksonville State (19-10) vs. Tennessee (21-8)
December 2-3 at Penn State
Cornell (19-5) vs. Long Island (25-13)
Binghamton (20-11) vs. Penn State (29-2)