LINCOLN – For the 11th 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 33rd straight NCAA Tournament appearance, were selected as the No. 14 overall seed in the 64-team field. Nebraska will open the tournament on Friday, Dec. 5 against Hofstra (28-5). The Pride were crowned tournament champions of the Colonial Athletic Association last weekend. 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 (22-8) of the Big 12 conference and the Utah Utes (19-12) of the Pac-12 conference.
Friday’s winners will meet in the second round at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 to battle for a spot in the Seattle Regional on Dec. 12-13. The winner of the Lincoln bracket will take on the winner of the Washington first and second round bracket, featuring the third-seeded Huskies against New Hampshire, and Hawaii against Duke.
Tickets for the first and second rounds in Lincoln will go on sale online at Huskers.com on Sunday at 9 p.m. They will also be available on Monday, pending availability, by calling the NU Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED or visiting the NU Athletic Ticket Office in person after 8 a.m. All-session ticket prices are set at $34 (reserved A and B sections) and $30 (C section) and
include the two first-round games on Friday, as well as the second-round match on Saturday.
Nebraska will be meeting Hofstra for the second time. NU beat Hofstra 3-1 on Sept. 16, 1989. The Huskers are 82-4 all-time against Kansas State and 2-0-1 all-time against Utah.
The Huskers finished the regular season 20-9 and 14-5 in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska is 89-29 (.754) in 32 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, ranking second among NCAA schools in both wins and winning percentage.
Six Big Teams were selected to the 2014 field. Joining the Huskers are No. 4 national seed Wisconsin, No. 5 national seed Penn State, No. 9 national seed Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan State.
The 2014 season marks the 30th time that Lincoln has hosted first and second round competition. Last season, the Huskers hosted at the Devaney Center for the first time since moving from the NU Coliseum and swept Fairfield and Oregon to advance to a regional for the 19th time in the last 20 years.
Nebraska has not been outside the state for an NCAA Tournament match since 2010, when they also went to the Seattle Regional. The Huskers also went to Seattle in 2008.
NCAA First and Second Round Schedule
First Round – Friday, Dec. 5
4:30 p.m. – Utah vs. Kansas State
7 p.m.* – Hofstra vs. Nebraska
*or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. match
Second Round – Saturday, Dec. 6
7 p.m. – First Round Winners