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For the sixth straight season and the third straight under head coach Ryan Theis, Marquette volleyball is in the NCAA tournament!
The NCAA announced the 64 team field on ESPN on Sunday night, where it was revealed that the Golden Eagles will travel just a bit down I-94 to Madison to face Washington State on Thursday, December 1, at 5pm Central. The winner of that match will move on to face the winner of the match between #3 seed and host Wisconsin and Howard on Friday.
We're in! #muvb earns its 6th straight NCAA Tournament berth! pic.twitter.com/P0WIaQE0Yj
— Marquette Volleyball (@MarquetteVB) November 28, 2016
Marquette came into Selection Sunday on a two match losing streak with both losses coming against Xavier, and with losses in three of their final four matches. However, their body of work across the whole season was enough to get the Golden Eagles into the tournament. Marquette went 5-3 this season against teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament, with two of the losses coming against Creighton, the only other Big East team to make it into the field.
Washington State went 21-11 this year with an 11-9 record in a very tough Pac-12 conference schedule. The Cougars had four opponents in common with Marquette this season, and both squads went 4-0 in those matches. Two of those matches, Kentucky and USC, were against teams that are in the NCAA tournament. This will be WSU’s 11th NCAA tournament appearances, and their first since 2009.