Volleyball Earns Second Straight NCAA Championship Berth, Named Seventh Seed in East Regional, Hosted by Bridgeport (UPDATED: 3 p.m. Friday with Championship Central Link)
Ravens open play on Thursday against LIU Post at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium
NCAA East Regional Championship Central (via Bridgeport)
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Northeast-10 Co-Libero of the Year RINDGE, N.H. (November 25, 2012) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball team has been named as the seventh seed of the NCAA Championship East Regional, as announced Monday night by the NCAA. It marks the second straight NCAA Championship selection for the team, as well as the second in program history. The Ravens, a Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinalist, earn an at-large bid in the eight-team tournament, which will run Thursday, Dec. 5 through Saturday, Dec. 7 and be hosted by top seed Bridgeport at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium in Bridgeport, Conn. Franklin Pierce will open play at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday against second-seeded LIU Post.
Each of the eight teams will play their first matches on Thursday. In addition to the Franklin Pierce (14-8) match against LIU Post (22-9), top-seeded Bridgeport (21-2) will face eighth-seeded Georgian Court (20-12), third-seeded New York Tech (26-6) will play sixth-seeded Dowling (19-13) and fourth-seeded New Haven (26-4) will take on fifth-seeded Adelphi (19-12).
From there, semifinal matches will be played on Friday evening, with the East Regional title match slated for Saturday. Admission will be charged on a per-day basis, with ticket prices set at $5 for adults, $3 for students (with ID) and seniors, and $2 for children under 12.
Live stats will be available for each match at the East Regional, while Bridgeport is still finalizing details of a live video stream. The full schedule for the tournament is below.
Bridgeport, New Haven and Georgian Court all received automatic bids to the tournament as champions of the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, respectively. Of the five at-large bids, three came from the ECC (LIU Post, New York Tech, Dowling) and two from the Northeast-10 (Adelphi, Franklin Pierce). New Haven is the defending East Regional champion, having defeated Bridgeport in last season's regional title match, while Bridgeport, Dowling and New Haven have combined to win the last eight regional titles. Excepting Georgian Court, which returns to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2009, every team was also present at last year's East Regional. Georgian Court replaces Dominican (N.Y.) as the CACC representative.
The winner of the East Regional will advance to the national quarterfinals, scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12, hosted by Upper Iowa at U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Upper Iowa will also host the national semifinals on Dec. 13 and the national championship match on Dec. 14. Seven other regional tournaments will be conducted this week, with each sending its champion to Cedar Rapids as well.
NCAA Volleyball Championship East Regional
Hosted by University of Bridgeport
Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium (Bridgeport, Conn.)
Thursday, Dec. 5 - Quarterfinals
Match 1: (3) New York Tech vs. (6) Dowling - Noon
Match 2: (2) LIU Post vs. (7) Franklin Pierce - 2:30 p.m.
Match 3: (1) Bridgeport vs. (8) Georgian Court - 5 p.m.
Match 4: (4) New Haven vs. (5) Adelphi - 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 6 - 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. 7 - 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).