UWSP volleyball qualifies for NCAA Tournament
Portage County Gazette
By John Kemmeter
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) volleyball team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, after it won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament.
The Pointers (26-8) were placed in the St. Thomas Regional in St. Paul, Minn., and are set to open their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance against 17th-ranked Augsburg (Minn.) (23-6) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.
Last week, UWSP won 3-1 at 25th-ranked UW-Eau Claire in the WIAC Semifinals Thursday, Nov. 7, to advance to the WIAC Tournament Championship Game at 23rd-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday, Nov. 9.
There, the Pointers bounced back from a 25-20 loss in the first set to win 25-16 in the second set, before Whitewater won 25-20 in the third set to go up 2-1.
UWSP rebounded with a 25-19 win to force a decisive fifth set, which it won 15-10 to claim the WIAC Tournament Championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2015.
Along with the Pointers, Eau Claire (20-9) and Whitewater (22-9) both received at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, as UWSP and Eau Claire will both play in the St. Thomas Regional.
The winner of UWSP’s game against Augsburg will play the winner of either 15th-ranked St. Thomas (29-4) or Dubuque (Iowa) (22-10) in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15.
The NCAA Sweet 16 matchup is set to take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, against either Eau Claire, 13th-ranked Saint Benedict (Minn.) (23-5), St. Olaf (Minn.) (26-5) or Northwestern-St. Paul (24-8).
The winner of the St. Thomas Regional will advance to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals Thursday, Nov. 21, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which will also host the National Semifinals Friday, Nov. 22, and the National Championship Game Saturday, Nov. 23.