Michigan
Northern Kentucky
Michigan to Face Off with Northern Kentucky in NCAA First Round
12/1/2019 9:27:00 PM | Volleyball
• Tournament Bracket | Ticket Information
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team received an at-large berth in the 2019 NCAA Division I Championship and will face Northern Kentucky in the first round on Friday (Dec. 6) at 5 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
The Wolverines (20-10) will make their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in 14 years (19th overall) and will kick off action in Lexington, Kentucky, against the Norse. Northern Kentucky (19-12) is coming off a Horizon League championship it won as the No. 4 seed, and the Norse have won eight straight matches overall.
The Michigan/Northern Kentucky winner will face the winner of Friday's other first-round match, No. 9-seeded Kentucky against Southeast Missouri State, in second-round action Saturday (Dec. 7) at 7 p.m.
Friday's meeting will mark the fourth between Northern Kentucky and Michigan, with the teams last meeting in 2013. The Norse have not played a Big Ten Conference school since the 2016 season. Led by All-Horizon League first team member Anna Brinkmann, NKU also had three other players earn Horizon League accolades in Ashton Terrill (honorable mention), Reilly Briggs (freshman team) and Abby Kanakry (freshman team). NKU led the Horizon League in blocks per set (2.53), service aces (1.53) and opponent service aces (0.83); was second in the conference in digs (17.56) and assists (12.60); and was third in hitting percentage (.219), opponent hitting percentage (.178) and kills (13.44).
Michigan ended the regular season with a school-record-tying 13 wins in the Big Ten and an overall record of 20-10, which marked the 18th 20-win season in program history. The NCAA berth is Michigan's 18th under head coach Mark Rosen.
The Wolverines posted a 1-1 record in neutral-site matches this season with a win over Northern Illinois and a loss to Missouri at the Dayton Invitational. The NCAA first-round matchup will mark Michigan's first neutral-site contest since Sept. 6.
The Big Ten received seven bids to the NCAA Tournament. No. 16 seed Purdue is the only other Big Ten team in Michigan's quarter of the bracket.
Tickets for the first- and second-round matches can be purchased online at UKathletics.com/NCAATickets and will go on sale to the public Monday (Dec. 2) at 2 p.m. for all-session tickets.
All 2019 NCAA Tournament matches will be streamed live via WatchESPN.
