(KFOR SPORTS  December 2, 2019)  The Nebraska volleyball team was selected as the No. 5 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night and will host the NCAA Tournament first and second rounds at the Bob Devaney Sports Center next weekend.

The Huskers, making their 38th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, will open the tournament on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. against the Ball State Cardinals (20-11), champions of the Mid-American Conference. The 4:30 p.m. match will feature the Northern Iowa Panthers (24-10) of the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Tigers (21-7) of the SEC. Friday’s winners will meet on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

Baylor, Texas, Stanford and Wisconsin received the top four seeds from the NCAA Tournament committee. Should those teams all advance past the first weekend, they would host an NCAA regional the following weekend. Nebraska is in Wisconsin’s region along with No. 12 national seed Hawaii and No. 13 Texas A&M. The Huskers would only have an opportunity to host an NCAA regional if they advance past the opening two rounds and Wisconsin gets upset in the first or second round.

Tickets to the first and second round in Lincoln will be available to purchase online at Huskers.com/tickets Sunday evening, or by calling 800-8-BIG RED beginning at 8 a.m. Monday. Streaming and broadcast information will be announced later this week.

The Huskers, who have been to the last four NCAA Semifinals and won National Championships in 2015 and 2017, finished the regular season 25-4 overall and 17-3 in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska is 2-0 all-time against Ball State with the last meeting on Sept. 11, 2004 in Lincoln. The Cardinals are making their first tournament appearance since 2011. Missouri was Nebraska’s NCAA second-round opponent at the Devaney Center last year. The Huskers played Northern Iowa in 2017 during the regular season in Omaha, dropping a 3-1 match.

The 2019 season marks the 35th time that Lincoln has hosted NCAA first and second round competition. Nebraska is 113-32 (.779) in 37 previous NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2019 Husker squad is looking to become the first Nebraska volleyball team to reach five consecutive final fours. This year’s NCAA Championship is set for December 19-21 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

NCAA First and Second Round Schedule
First Round – Friday, Dec. 6
4:30 p.m. – Northern Iowa vs. Missouri
7 p.m.* – Ball State vs. Nebraska
*or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. match, but no sooner than 7 p.m.

Second Round – Saturday, Dec. 7
7 p.m. – First Round Winners

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