LINCOLN, Neb. – For the 12th straight year, the Nebraska volleyball team will open the NCAA Tournament at home, as the Bob Devaney Sports Center was chosen as one of the 16 host sites for the NCAA first and second rounds next weekend.
The Huskers, making their 34th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, were selected as the No. 4 overall seed in the 64-team field. Nebraska will open the tournament on Friday, Dec. 4 against the Harvard Crimson (15-10), the first-ever meeting between the teams. It also marks Harvard’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. That match will start at either 7 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. match, which features the Kansas State Wildcats (17-11) of the Big 12 Conference and the Wichita State Shockers (26-8) of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Friday’s winners will meet in the second round at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5 to battle for a spot in the Lexington, Ky., Regional on Dec. 11-12. In addition to the fourth-seeded Huskers, No. 5 Washington, No. 12 Ohio State and No. 13 BYU are the other national seeds in the Lexington Regional. Nebraska, Washington and BYU were three of the four teams in the Seattle Regional last year.
All-session tickets for the first and second rounds in Lincoln will go on sale Monday at 8 a.m. Tickets will be available online at Huskers.com, by calling Nebraska Athletics Development and Ticketing at 800-8-BIGRED, or by visiting Nebraska Athletics Development and Ticketing in person after 8 a.m. All-session ticket prices are set at $34 (reserved A and B levels) and $30 (C level). All-session tickets include the two first-round matches on Friday, as well as the second-round match on Saturday.
The Huskers finished the regular season 26-4 and 17-3 in the Big Ten Conference, good for second place in the standings behind Minnesota. The Huskers finished the regular season on a 10-match win streak, including a sweep of No. 7 Penn State on Saturday night. Nebraska is 92-30 (.754) in 33 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, ranking second among NCAA schools in wins and third in winning percentage.
Nine Big Teams were selected to the 2015 field. Joining the Huskers are No. 2 Minnesota, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Penn State, No. 12 Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State.
The 2015 season marks the 31st time that Lincoln has hosted NCAA first and second round competition. Nebraska has advanced to a regional 20 times in the last 21 years, including a regional final appearance last year against BYU in Seattle, Wash., their third straight trip to the final eight.
The Huskers are looking to get back to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time since 2008, and it comes with added motivation this year as the NCAA Championship returns to the CenturyLink Center in Omaha for the third time in 10 years. The NCAA Championship was last in Omaha in 2008, when the Huskers fell to eventual champ Penn State in the semifinals. The final four was also in Omaha in 2006, when NU beat Stanford to win the program’s third NCAA title.
NCAA First and Second Round Schedule
First Round – Friday, Dec. 4
4:30 p.m. – Kansas State vs. Wichita State
7 p.m.* – Harvard vs. Nebraska
*or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. match
Second Round – Saturday, Dec. 5
7 p.m. – First Round Winners