USF Volleyball Does Not Qualify for NCAA Tournament

Nov. 26, 2006

(San Francisco) - USF volleyball was not selected to compete in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Dons (23-8) posted a fourth place showing in the West Coast Conference, the fifth-ranked league in the nation, but were left out of the 64-team field. San Francisco matched the program wins record this season with 23 and posted just the fifth upper-echelon WCC finish in school history and second in four years.

This marks the first time since 2002 the conference has advanced just three teams (Pepperdine, San Diego and Santa Clara) to the NCAA Tournament. Four teams represented the WCC in 2004-05 with a league record six teams making the 2003 field.

San Francisco owns a 5-6 overall record against teams in the 2006 NCAA field with victories at NEC Champion Long Island (3-2), at Big Sky Champion Sacramento State (3-2), against Ivy League Champion Cornell (3-1), against MAAC Champion Siena (3-0) and dispatched at-large selection UC Santa Barbara (3-1). The Gauchos have now qualified for all 26 NCAA Tournaments and do so this year despite a 19-11 record and a third place Big West finish (8-6).

USF established program records in assists (14.45), total blocks (312.5) and blocks per game (2.67). The Dons boasted the second best offense in school history as well, with 1,845 kills while hitting at a .235 clip - both marks second only to USF's 2003 squad which advanced to the school's inaugural NCAA berth.