Ravens open play on Thursday, Nov. 29 against NYIT at Charger Gymnasium

NCAA East Regional Championship Central (via New Haven)
NCAA.com Selection Announcement
NCAA Championship Interactive Bracket
Archived Selection Show Video 

RINDGE, N.H. (November 18, 2012) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball team has been named as the fifth seed of the NCAA Championship East Regional, as announced Sunday night by the NCAA. It marks the first NCAA Championship selection in program history. The Ravens, a Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinalist, earn an at-large bid in the eight-team tournament, which will run Thursday, Nov. 29 through Saturday, Dec. 1 and be hosted by top seed New Haven at Charger Gymnasium in West Haven, Conn. Franklin Pierce will open play on Nov. 29 against fourth-seeded New York Tech.

Each of the eight teams will play their first matches on Thursday, Nov. 29. In addition to the Franklin Pierce (19-14) game against NYIT (21-9), top-seeded New Haven (27-1) will face eighth-seeded Dominican (N.Y.) (26-7), second-seeded Bridgeport (25-4) will play seventh-seeded Dowling (20-14) and third-seeded Adelphi (24-11) will take on sixth-seeded LIU Post (23-14).

From there, semifinal matches will be played on Friday evening, with the East Regional title match slated for Saturday night. Admission will be charged on a per-day basis, with ticket prices set at $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors, and $2 for children under 12.

Live stats and live video will be available for each match at the East Regional, and can be accessed via the link to Championship Central at the top of this page.

New Haven, Bridgeport and Dominican all received automatic bids to the tournament as champions of the Northeast-10 Conference, East Coast Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, respectively. Of the five at-large bids, three came from the ECC (NYIT, LIU Post, Dowling) and two from the Northeast-10 (Franklin Pierce, Adelphi). Bridgeport is the defending East Regional champion, while Bridgeport, Dowling and New Haven have combined to win the last seven regional titles. Dominican joins Franklin Pierce as first-time NCAA Championship participants.

The winner of the East Regional will advance to the national quarterfinals, scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 6, hosted by West Florida at UWF Fieldhouse in Pensacola, Fla. West Florida will also host the national semifinals on Dec. 7 and the national championship match on Dec. 8. Seven other regional tournaments will be conducted this week, with each sending its champion to Pensacola as well.

NCAA Volleyball Championship East Regional
Hosted by University of New Haven
Charger Gymnasium (West Haven, Conn.)
(Seeds in parentheses)

Thursday, Nov. 29 - Quarterfinals
Match 1: (3) Adelphi vs. (6) LIU Post - Noon
Match 2: (2) Bridgeport vs. (7) Dowling - 2:30 p.m.
Match 3: (1) New Haven vs. (8) Dominican (N.Y.) - 5 p.m.
Match 4: (4) New York Tech vs. (5) Franklin Pierce - 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 30 - Semifinals
Match 5: Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner - 5 p.m.
Match 6: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner - 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 1 - Championship
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner - 7 p.m. 

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce volleyball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).