Utah, BYU, UVU, Weber State Volleyball Programs Reach NCAA Tournament
Apr 5, 2021, 1:43 PM
Utah players high-five during a volleyball set against the Southern California Trojans at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. (Annie Barker, Deseret News)
(Annie Barker, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The state was well-represented when the women’s volleyball NCAA Tournament bracket was announced with Utah, BYU, UVU and Weber State getting in.
The pairings for the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament was announced on Sunday and four teams in the state will participate, which will take place in Omaha, Nebraska.
Here is the four teams in the state of Utah that will compete in the tournament and how their regular seasons ended.
Utah Utes
The Utes finished third in the Pac-12 standings with a 13-4 record. They received the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will have a first round bye. Utah will face the winner of LIU and Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 15 at 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN3.
Beth Launiere’s program reached the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season and the 17th overall appearance. It’s also the third time that Utah received a national seed.
We're dancing as the #14 seed! We'll take on the winner of LIU/Pitt in the second round.
Next stop: OMAHA!#UteStrong pic.twitter.com/U6wv4Uniya
— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) April 4, 2021
BYU Cougars
The Cougars finished the season with a 16-1 record and picked up the No. 16 seed, receiving a first round bye. BYU will battle the winner of UCLA and Rider on Thursday, April 15 at 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN3.
Heather Olmstead’s program won the WCC title for the sixth time in seven years. It’s the ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and has received a national seed for the seventh consecutive season.
WE’RE HEADED TO OMAHA! 🥳
🔹 #16 seed
🏐 First-round bye
🆚 Rider/UCLA
🗓 Thursday, April 15 pic.twitter.com/AgWb73BRqM— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) April 4, 2021
Utah Valley Wolverines
The Wolverines went 12-4 in WAC play this season, which set a new program record for conference wins and were 14-5 overall. They received an automatic bid by winning the WAC Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Sam Atoa’s program will face Texas State in the first round on Wednesday, April 14 at 1:30 p.m. MT on ESPN3. The winner will face No. 5 Nebraska on Thursday, April 15 at 1:30 p.m. MT on ESPN3.
Historic and exciting day at UVU as UVU volleyball attends their first ever NCAA Selection Show! 🌟#UVU #GoUVU #WACvb pic.twitter.com/Mo9HqKJB9Z
— UVU Women's Volleyball (@UVUwvb) April 4, 2021
Weber State Wildcats
The Wildcats are going to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Sky title. They went 18-1 on the season and will face Bowling Green on Wednesday, April 14 at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN3. The winner will battle No. 1 Wisconsin on Thursday, April 15 at 5 p.m. MT.
We are going dancing! We will be playing Bowling Green in the first round of the NCAA Tournament! The match is scheduled for April 14th at 5:00pm MDT in Omaha, Nebraska. Go Wildcats! #invictus #weberstatevb #PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/nbKLy528Ub
— Weber State Volleyball (@weberstatevb) April 5, 2021
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.
