VB Earns Third Consecutive Bid To the NCAA Tournament, Faces Texas A&M On Thursday
TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State volleyball team (19-13) earned its third consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, and will face Texas A&M (21-8) on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 3:30 p.m. MT at Texas' Gregory Gym in Austin.
“I think it’s a phenomenal achievement by this group,” head coach Jason Watson said. “They’ve committed themselves to get to the tournament, and certainly committed themselves to do things that have never been done in our program’s history. I’m excited for them.”
ASU, in its 18th appearance in program history, was picked to compete in the Minnesota Regional, with the host, No. 2-seeded Texas, taking on Northwestern State in the other half of the pod.
“Credit goes to the team for persevering,” Watson said. “It’s a difficult conference season, there are emotional highs and lows, but they’ve gotten through it, and I think it speaks to their character and what they’re going to bring for us in this opportunity to continue our season.”
This marks the first time ASU has gone to the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons since the Sun Devils made four-straight trips from 1992 to 1995.
The Sun Devils and Texas A&M have met four times in program history, with the most recent meeting coming on Sept. 10, 1988, with ASU winning the road match in four sets.
In his overall coaching career, Coach Watson is 4-5 in appearances in the NCAA Tournament, bringing ASU to back-to-back trips in 2012 and 2013. Last season, ASU dropped a five-set decision to BYU in the opening round in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Last time out, the Sun Devils rounded out the regular season at home, besting UCLA in five sets before falling to Arizona in three.
The Pac-12 Conference leads the country with 10 teams: No. 1 seed Stanford, No. 3 seed Washington, No. 10 seed Oregon, No. 11 seed Arizona, No. 12 seed UCLA, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State, Utah, and USC.
Senior Shannan McCready, on ASU’s tournament bid:
“I’m absolutely ecstatic! I am so happy that I have yet another opportunity to play with the ladies that I love the most, so it’s great.”
Junior Macey Gardner, on ASU’s tournament bid:
“We’re pumped. It was cool to see our name pop up on the TV screen again. We’re excited to have another chance at it, and I think we’re going to go in there with some purpose and take care of some business in Texas.
Head Coach Jason Watson In The NCAA Tournament:
2013 (At ASU)
First Round, Honolulu, Hawaii (Hawaii)
Dec. 6 vs. BYU, L 3-2
(25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 26-24, 10-15)
2012 (At ASU)
First Round, Provo, Utah (BYU)
Nov. 30 vs. Oklahoma; L 3-2
(25-20, 19-25, 18-25, 25-19, 13-15)
2007 (At BYU)
First and Second Rounds, Seattle, Wash. (Washington)
Nov. 30 vs. Ole Miss; W 3-0 (30-27, 30-21, 30-24)
Dec. 1 at No. 6 Washington; W 3-2
(30-28, 28-30, 25-30, 30-22, 15-13)
Regionals, University Park, Pa. (Penn State)
Dec. 7 vs. No. 16 Middle Tennessee; W 3-0
(30-28, 30-22, 34-32)
Dec. 8 at No. 1 Penn State; L 3-0 (23-30; 15-30; 18-30)
2006 (At BYU)
First and Second Rounds, Los Angeles, Calif. (USC)
Nov. 30 vs. UC Santa Barbara; W 3-2
(27-30; 30-32; 30-27; 30-21; 15-12)
Dec. 1 at No. 6 USC; L 3-0 (25-30; 37-39; 19-30
2005 (At BYU)
First and Second Rounds, Los Angeles, Calif. (USC)
Dec. 2 vs. Pepperdine; L 3-1
(24-30, 28-30, 30-24, 28-30)