Nov. 27, 2005

NCAA Release and Bracket | Photo Gallery | Quotes

Dayton will face National No. 6 seed Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. in the First Round of the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championships it was announced on Sunday live on ESPN News. The match will take place on Thursday at 7 pm ET.

Dayton (24-10) will be making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Atlantic 10 Title for the third time in as many seasons to earn an automatic bid. A-10 Player of the Year Faye Barhorst (4.01 kpg, .401 Hit%, 1.30 bpg) and A-10 Setter of the Year Nicole Schott (11.79 apg) led Dayton to a 19-match winning streak, which was the 11th longest streak in the nation this season.

Notre Dame (28-3) is ranked seventh in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and enters the postseason with an automatic berth after winning the BIG EAST Conference Championship last week. BIG EAST First Team selection Lauren Brewster leads the Irish with 3.90 kills per game and 1.59 blocks per game this season. Notre Dame was seeded sixth as of one of the 16 seeded teams in the tournament.

UD will play for the right to face the winner of the Northwestern vs. Texas A&M match on Friday in South Bend.

Both Northwestern (19-11) and Texas A&M (16-13) were named to the field as at-large berths from the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences respectively. The Wildcats and the Red Raiders will face each other in the opening match on Thursday in South Bend at 5 p.m. ET.

Dayton has a 1-2 record all-time in NCAA Tournament play. In its first-ever postseason appearance, Dayton stunned host Michigan State in five-games in 2003 before falling to Nebraska in the Second Round. Last year, UD fell to host Ohio State in a First Round match.

The Flyers have been placed in the College Station Region. The winner of two matches in South Bend will advance to Texas Tech University for matches on December 9 and 10. The other regionals are hosted by Nebraska (hosted in Omaha, Neb.), Penn State (State College, Pa.) and Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.).

Fans can follow the Flyers throughout the week and in South Bend at www.DaytonFlyers.com. The official online home of Dayton volleyball is home to rosters, statistics, game recaps and a Tournament Central page.