SVSU Volleyball earns bid to 2019 NCAA Tournament

SVSU Volleyball earns bid to 2019 NCAA Tournament

UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Saginaw Valley State University Volleyball received a berth in the 2019 NCAA Division II Tournament on Monday evening, as the NCAA held its official online selection show. It is the program's first appearance in the postseason since the 2016 season and the sixth in the history of the program. 

The Cardinals, who are now 20-8 overall on the season, secured the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region and will play top-seeded and nationally 14th-ranked Lewis University (27-5) on Thursday, December 5. First serve for that match will be at 8:30 p.m. eastern time at Lewis's Neil Carey Arena.

Thursday's match will be the first between the programs since the 2012 season-opener and just the third in history. The Flyers have claimed all three previous meetings in the series. Lewis is the defending Midwest Regional champion and advanced to last year's final four as well. 

Saginaw Valley finished fourth in the GLIAC regular season standings and hosted an opening round tournament match after winning 13-of-16 matches to finish the regular season. Despite falling to Wayne State in the GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinals, the Cards were able to secure the region's eighth and final bid into postseason play. 

The Division II Women's Volleyball Committee selected a total of 64 teams to participate in the 2019 Division II Women's Volleyball Championship. Eight teams were selected from each of the following eight regions: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.

The eight, eight-team regionals will be played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches and will not include a third-place match. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the finals, Dec. 12-14, in Denver, Colo. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination; best three-of-five-set matches.

Click here for the official 2019 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament Page

Click here for the 2019 NCAA Division II Tournament Interactive Bracket

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