University of Arizona Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS --- The Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced today the 64-team field for the 2000 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 seeds in each region were Nebraska (28-0) in the central, Southern California (25-2) in the pacific, Wisconsin (28-3) in the mideast, and Hawaii (27-1) in the west region.

The Big Ten, Big Twelve, and Pacific-10 conferences each placed six teams in the field, followed by the Big West Conference with five and Conference USA with four representatives.

Four teams, Pacific (California), Penn State, Stanford and UC Santa Barbara, have earned bids to all twenty championships. Five teams are making their initial appearance in the field: Alabama A&M, Georgia State, Missouri, Texas-San Antonio and Utah State.

In the 19-year history of the championship nine schools have been crowned champion, eight of which are in this year's bracket, including the defending champion Penn State.

Additional past winners making the field are Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97), Hawaii (1982, 83, 87), Long Beach State (1989, 93, 98), UCLA (1984, 90, 91), Pacific (California) (1985, 86), Nebraska (1995) and Southern California (1981).

First and second-round matches will be played at 16 campus sites. A list of the first-round match-ups follows.

CENTRAL REGION
December 1-2 at Lincoln, Nebraska
South Carolina (21-6) vs. George Washington (25-5)
Princeton (20-8) at Nebraska (28-0)

December 1-2 at Columbus, Ohio
Cincinnati (24-9) vs. Notre Dame (25-6)
Ball State (25-6) at Ohio State (24-6)

December 1-2 at Provo, Utah
Utah State (21-9) vs. Missouri (24-6)
Hofstra (23-10) at Brigham Young (24-6)

December 1-2 at Tucson, Arizona
Louisville (26-7) vs. Michigan (18-13)
Alabama A&M (31-2) at Arizona (25-4)

WEST REGION
November 30-December 1 at Honolulu, Hawaii
Utah (22-7) vs. Texas Tech (24-8)
Davidson (24-11) at Hawaii (27-1)

November 30-December 1 at Santa Clara, California
San Jose State (22-9) vs. Long Beach State (22-7)
Cal State Sacramento (21-11) at Santa Clara (26-4)

November 30-December 1 at Santa Barbara, California
Loyola Marymount (20-8) vs. Stanford (18-11)
Texas-San Antonio (24-8) at UC Santa Barbara (23-7)

November 30-December 1 at Minneapolis, Minnesota
Duke (21-12) vs. Arizona State (17-11)
Robert Morris (21-15) at Minnesota (28-3)

PACIFIC REGION
December 1-2 at Los Angeles, California
Cal Poly (16-11) vs. South Florida (28-5)
Georgia State (28-9) at Southern California (25-2)

November 30-December 1 at Gainesville, Florida
Southeast Missouri State (22-8) vs. North Carolina (26-7)
Arkansas-Little Rock (23-6) at Florida (27-4)

December 1-2 at University Park, Pennsylvania
Tennessee (23-9) vs. Washington State (18-9)
James Madison (21-9) at Penn State (27-5)

December 1-2 at Fort Collins, Colorado
Colorado (16-11) vs. Georgia Tech (25-7)
Radford (28-6) at Colorado State (30-4)

MIDEAST REGION
December 1-2 at Madison, Wisconsin
Western Michigan (25-5) vs. Northern Iowa (28-4)
Bucknell (17-14) at Wisconsin (28-3)

December 1-2 at Malibu, California
Loyola (Illinois) (22-8) vs. Kansas State (20-8)
Fairfield (26-6) at Pepperdine (23-6)

December 2-3 at Los Angeles, California
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (23-4) vs. Michigan State (17-12)
Morgan State (25-15) at UCLA (22-7)

December 1-2 at Stockton, California
Houston (21-10) vs. Texas A&M (19-8)
Oral Roberts (21-11) at Pacific (California) (26-3)

Teams winning both matches will move on to regional play December 7-10 at four campus locations yet to be determined. The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Virginia on December 14 and 16.

TOP 16 SEEDS