The K-State volleyball team was chosen as the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Volleyball Championship tournament selection Sunday night. The Wildcats will play host to first-and-second round matches at Ahearn Field House on Friday and Saturday.
"To play the first two rounds at home is a very big deal," coach Suzie Fritz said. "It means we get our fans there and the purple there."
The Wildcats will face Tulsa (27-8) in the first round Friday, after Missouri State and Oregon battle at 5:30 p.m. K?State's match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., assuming the first match doesn't end later than expected.
"We were ranked 12th (in the coaches poll), so to be the No. 9 seed is pretty cool," said junior Megan Farr. "The Big 12 (Conference) is tough, so that experience will help us out a lot in the tournament."
The NCAA volleyball tournament seeding is different from traditional basketball seeding, because there is only one of each seed. For example, K-State was selected as the only No. 9 seed and Cal Poly was the final seed, chosen as No. 16. The remaining 48 of the 64 teams were not seeded.
Fritz said the tournament selection day is always somewhat stressful for her, because she is anxious to find out where K?State is seeded.
"It was a very difficult day for me," Fritz said. "I just kind of paced around all day waiting for 7 o'clock to roll around."
There are no other Big 12 teams in the Wildcats' region, so the squad will have a few chances to compete with teams it hasn't seen yet.
Farr said she is interested to see K-State's competition in the film room first and then in person.
"It's going to be nice to play some people we haven't played," Farr said. "I feel that we will be very well prepared going into it."
Two other Big 12 schools - Nebraska and Texas - also were seeded in the tournament. The Huskers received a No. 2 seed and Texas was seeded fourth. Missouri, Iowa State and Oklahoma were the other three Big 12 schools that received a tournament bid.
If the Wildcats win Friday night, they will play the winner of the Missouri State and Oregon match at 7 p.m. Saturday. K-State defeated Missouri State during the 2005 season.
Fritz said her team's regular-season record means essentially nothing in the tournament.
"It's a brand-new season now," Fritz said. "It doesn't matter what you have done to this point. Now it's all about trying to gain momentum in the tournament."
