No. 1-ranked Colorado College will continue a pair of postseason traditions when it travels to Georgetown, Texas, for the regional round of the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship. Follow the latest updates on the CC Tigers Athletics site.
The Tigers will make the program's 20th-consecutive postseason appearance when they face the College of New Rochelle in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday, Nov. 10, on the home court of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Southwestern University.
A more recent tradition is that for the third year in row, CC is part of what appears to be the strongest of the eight regionals, based on the most recent national rankings.
The Texas regional includes four teams ranked among the top 6 in the AVCA Division III Coaches Poll - No. 1 Colorado College, No. 2 Southwestern, No. 5 Trinity, and No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Two other regional participants, Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Texas at Dallas, are receiving votes.
"We expected we would be part of this very tough regional," head coach Rick Swan says. "We knew we would not be allowed to host a regional, so going to a familiar site is a good thing. We're excited to be ranked No. 1 and be the top seed, and our players are looking forward to the challenge."
The Tigers, who finished the regular season with a 31-1 record, are making the program's 27th overall appearance in the national tournament. CC, which advanced to the Elite 8 in 2009, owns an all-time NCAA tournament record of 16-26, including a 12-19 mark during the first 19 years of Rick Swan's tenure as head coach.
Colorado College punched its ticket to the national playoffs with a dramatic five-set victory over No. 5 Trinity University in the championship match of the 2017 SCAC tournament last Saturday in Kerrville, Texas. CC dropped the first two sets, but rallied for a heart-stopping 22-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-13 victory.
New Rochelle (20-10) earned a Pool B berth after winning its fifth-consecutive Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship. The Blue Angels did not lose a set against league opponents this season while winning the HVIAC regular-season and tournament crowns.
Friday's winner will face either Pacific Lutheran (20-4) or Trinity (27-7). On the other side of the regional bracket, CMS (25-5) will face Texas-Dallas (24-10), while host Southwestern (29-5) meets Whittier College (18-9).
Colorado College reached the 30-win mark for the fourth time in five years and seventh time in Swan's 20-year tenure with the five-set win over Texas Lutheran University in the semifinals of the SCAC tournament.
Headlining the Tigers are five players who earned all-conference honors. Setter Lizzy Counts '20 was named Offensive Player of the Year and was joined on the first team by right side hitter Aria Dudley '19. Middle hitter Glenna Yancey '18 and outside hitters Haley Harris '20 and Jordan Mullen '20 were second-team selections.
Swan, who was named the 2017 SCAC Coach of the Year, recorded career victory No. 500 at CC with a three-set victory at TLU on Oct. 1. With that win, the Tigers set a program record with 18 consecutive victories to open the season.