Michigan Earns At-Large NCAA Bid, Will Face Colorado State in First Round
11/26/2017 9:58:00 PM | Volleyball
• NCAA Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team received an at-large berth in the 2017 NCAA Division I Championship and will face Colorado State in the first round Friday (Dec. 1) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, California. The match will start at 4:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. EST) on the campus of Stanford.
The Wolverines (21-11), who are making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years and their 17th overall, will kick off action in Palo Alto against the Colorado State Rams. Colorado State won the Mountain West Conference with a 17-1 record in conference play and posted a 28-3 record through the regular season.
Friday's other first-round match will feature No. 3 seed Stanford against CSU Bakersfield. The Michigan/Colorado State winner will face the winner of the Stanford/CSU Bakersfield match in second-round action Saturday (Dec. 2) at 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST).
Michigan and Colorado State faced each other earlier during the 2017 regular season, with the Rams taking the match in a 3-0 fashion during a non-conference tournament at Colorado State's home court in early September. The Rams, who have lost just two contests since that tournament, are led offensively by redshirt freshman Breana Runnels, who is averaging 3.21 kills per set. Michigan has defeated Colorado State in two of the teams' three meetings, though the Rams took the most recent match.
The Wolverines posted a 3-0 record in neutral-site matches this season, including wins over Albany, Idaho State and Ball State. The NCAA first-round matchup will mark Michigan's first neutral-site contest since Sept. 10.
Michigan ended the regular season on a five-match win streak, including three straight wins over top-25 opponents for the first time in program history. The NCAA berth is Michigan's 16th under head coach Mark Rosen.
The Big Ten Conference received eight bids to the NCAA Tournament. Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan are all positioned in the Stanford quadrant.
Ticket and stream information are to be announced.
