NCAA Tournament Notes - BYU Prepares For First Round

PROVO -- For the 22nd time in the 25-year existence of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, the BYU women's volleyball team has qualified for the annual postseason tournament. The No. 22-ranked Cougars received one of 33 at-large selections Sunday after earning the Mountain West Conference regular-season title and achieving a 25-3 overall record. The above pdf document includes notes associated with BYU's trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"We feel very good about getting back to the NCAA Tournament," first-year BYU coach Jason Watson said. "BYU has a rich history of competing in the NCAA Championship. Our athletes worked extremely hard this season to put us in a position to continue the legacy our program has achieved over the years."

The Cougars will play Pepperdine University (17-11, 10-4 West Coast Conference) Friday at 5 p.m. PST (6 p.m. MST) in a first-round matchup hosted by the University of Southern California at the Lyon Center in Los Angeles. The winner of the BYU-Pepperdine match will play Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. PST against the winner of the No. 12-seeded USC and UC Santa Barbara contest slated for 7 p.m. PST Friday.

"Pepperdine is a team that has competed well this year and is very deserving of its selection," Watson said of a Wave program that tied for second in the West Coast Conference, which qualified five teams. "We have a lot of work to do between now and Friday, but we look forward to the challenge."

Friday's match will be the 18th meeting between BYU and Pepperdine and their second NCAA Tournament matchup. BYU holds a 12-5 advantage in the overall series, including a first-round victory over the Waves in Provo during the 1987 NCAA Tournament. Cougar coach Jason Watson has faced Pepperdine twice before in the NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach. He helped guide Arkansas State to the NCAAs in 1999 before losing to the Waves in first round at Pepperdine. The next season, he helped Kansas State defeat Pepperdine in the second round, again in Malibu, to advance to the Regional Semifinals.

Cali or Bust

The Cougars will be returning to the NCAA Tournament this season for the 22nd time in the 25-year history of the event. Despite having missed two of the last three Tournaments, BYU still ranks among the nation's leaders in NCAA appearances and victories. The Cougars have never competed at USC in Tournament play.

Most Appearances

1st T - (25) UCSB, Penn State, Stanford

4th T - (24) Hawaii, Nebraska, UCLA, Pacific

8th - (23) USC

9th T - (22) BYU, Texas

Most NCAA Victories

1. Stanford (76-19)

2. UCLA (61-21)

3. Nebraska (59-21)

4. Hawai'i (56-20)

5. USC (49-19)

6. Pacific (46-24)

7. Long Beach State (45-16)

8. Penn State (43-23)

9. Texas (42-20)

10. Florida (40-15)

11. BYU (27-21)

BYU's Top National Finishes

Best NCAA Finish

1993 -- Final Four, National Semifinal Match, T-Third

Best AIAW Finish

1972 -- National Championship Match, Second Place

BYU Record by Round

First Round 12-4

(not including five byes)

Second Round 6-3

Regional Semifinals 8-6

(Sweet Sixteen)

Regional Finals 1-7

(Elite Eight)

Championship Semifinals 0-1

(Final Four)

Championship Match 0-0

Overall NCAA Record 27-21

BYU vs ...

Pepperdine

Overall 12-5

NCAA 1-0

USC

Overall 6-10

NCAA 1-1

UC Santa Barbara

Overall 9-6-1

NCAA 0-1