SPORTS
UW will host tourney
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by Michael Poppy
Monday, November 28, 2005
The Wisconsin volleyball team anticipated hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament based on their 4-0 finish to end the season, gaining second place in the Big Ten with a record of 15-5 in the conference and 23-6 overall.
Nevertheless, there was still a sense of tension in the Lund Family Dining Room at Camp Randall as head coach Pete Waite and his squad awaited the tournament selection announcements Sunday.
But in the end, the Badgers got what they wanted, and will host the first two rounds of tournament action as the No. 11 overall seed with Valparaiso, California, and Loyola (Ill.) traveling to Madison.
"Being able to host is always fantastic. Our crowd's been great all year and it gives our kids another boost where they just play at another level," Waite said.
Valparaiso and California will face off in the first round as the Badgers are slated to play Loyola (Ill.), the very same Ramblers' team that Wisconsin beat 3-0 (30-27, 30-26, 30-25) in the first around of last year's tournament, which was also played at the UW Field House.
Despite a losing record on the season at 13-17, Loyola (Ill.) squeaked into the tournament with an automatic bid by upsetting UW-Milwaukee 3-1 (30-26, 30-18, 24-30, 30-23) in the Horizon League Championship.
If the Badgers advance after hosting the first two rounds, they will then travel to College Station, Texas, as they were placed in Texas A&M's regional bracket along with the Aggies and the No. 6 seed Notre Dame.
Aside from Wisconsin, six other Big Ten teams made the tournament — tied with the Pac-10 for the second most that a conference boasts in the tournament this year to the Big 12 (seven).
With a perfect 20-0 conference finish, Penn State earned the No. 2 overall seed and could very well host all of their games at State College until the Final Four at San Antonio.
Also in the State College regional is Minnesota — a Final Four team from a year ago, but not even in the top 16 seeds this season.
Elsewhere, No. 13 seed Ohio State will also host the first two rounds at Columbus.
Purdue was right behind the Buckeyes with the No. 14 seed, but will not have the advantage of hosting, as they will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., with the UNC Tarheels as host.
Regardless of the match-ups, Wisconsin is simply excited to have the opportunity to host and anxious to tip off the tournament against Loyola (Ill.).
"I think it's a pretty good route," Waite said of his team's possibility of playing in an NCAA regional for the second-straight year. "I think you're going to meet top teams everywhere you go. Every team has its own focus right now and our focus right now is Loyola."
Wisconsin will definitely look to its Elite Eight run of last year and hope to duplicate it again this year.
"Last year, we won three of our last four matches and came up with a great run in the NCAA Tournament," said Waite. "I certainly think we can do it again with the right focus."
