Women’s Volleyball Tabbed No. 2 Seed In NCAA Championship Nittany Lions host Cornell

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Women’s Volleyball Tabbed No. 2 Seed In NCAA Championship Nittany Lions host Cornell

Long Island and Binghamton Dec. 2-3

University Park, Pa., Nov. 27, 2005 – For the 25th consecutive time, the
Penn State women’s volleyball team has been selected to the 64-team NCAA
Championship field. The second-ranked and Big Ten Champion Nittany Lions
(29-2, 20-0 Big Ten) earned the No. 2 seed in the field for the second year
in a row after closing out an undefeated Big Ten season for the first time
since 1999, the same year the team won the NCAA National Championship.
In addition to hosting one of four pre-determined NCAA Championship
Regionals on Dec. 9-10, the Nittany Lions will host the First and Second
Rounds of the Championship on Dec. 2-3 at Rec Hall. Cornell (19-5) will play
Long Island (25-13) in the first match of the day on Dec. 2 before Penn
State takes on Binghamton (20-11) in the second match, with the two winners
meeting on Saturday, Dec. 3. Times are scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
on Friday and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions are one of six Big Ten teams to make the tournament cut.
No. 13 seed Ohio State (21-8), No. 14 seed Purdue (23-8), No. 11 seed
Wisconsin (23-6) Northwestern (19-11) and Minnesota (24-7) were also
selected to the field with the Buckeyes and Badgers also hosting the initial
rounds. The Nittany Lions are one of only three teams to make all previous
25 NCAA Tournaments. Penn State joins Stanford and UC Santa Barbara as the
only programs to appear in every post-season event since the NCAA began
sponsoring a tournament in 1981.

Penn State has earned the right to host the first and second rounds of the
NCAA Tournament 19 times since 1981, including the last 16 seasons. The
Nittany Lions have compiled an overall record of 43-23 (.652) in the
tournament, including five trips to the NCAA Semifinals (1993, 1994, 1997,
1998, 1999) and one National Championship (1999). Penn State is 28-2 in NCAA
Tournament matches at Rec Hall. Last season the Nittany Lions fell to UCLA
in the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Seattle, Wash.

The winner of the Penn State first and second round NCAA site will remain in
State College, Pa., for the NCAA Regionals, hosted by Penn State at Rec Hall
on Dec. 9-10. The Penn State site winner will play the site winner from
Knoxville, Tenn., which features No. 15 seed Tennessee, Jacksonville State,
Winthrop and Minnesota in one Regional Semifinal match. The Austin, Texas,
site winner (seven-seed Hawaii, Texas State, Texas, LSU) will play the site
winner from Columbia, Mo., (Arkansas, St. Mary’s (Cal.), Missouri State,
Missouri) in the other NCAA Regional Semifinal.

The Regional Finals will take place on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Rec Hall for the
right to advance to the NCAA National Semifinals, which are slated for
Thursday, Dec. 15 in San Antonio, Texas, at the Alamodome. The winners
advance to the NCAA National Championship match on Saturday, Dec. 17.
ALL SESSION for the First and Second Rounds tickets MUST be purchased at the
Bryce Jordan Center Ticket Office or by calling 814-865-5555 or
1-800-863-3336 up until 4:00 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. All session tickets are
$10 for adults and $6 for student, youth and senior citizens. SINGLE SESSION
tickets WILL ONLY be available at Rec Hall on Friday and Saturday and are $7
for adults and $5 for student, youth and senior citizens. Tickets for the

Regional Championship are also on sale.
State College, Pa., Regional Pairings:

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), 5:00 p.m.
Binghamton (20-11) vs. Penn State (29-2) 7:30 p.m.