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Four months of non-stop college men’s volleyball from across the nation has all led up to the start of the NCAA Tournament.
Here is the initial look and the historical information to know about the NCAA Tournament play-in matches.
NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY-IN MATCHES
No. 3 seed Stanford (22-8, 17-7 MPSF) vs. No. 6 seed Erskine (21-6, 12-2 CC)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. Tuesday in Chicago
Season series: First meeting between the two teams.
Last NCAA Tournament appearance: Stanford (2010); Erskine (never)
Last NCAA Tournament title: Stanford (2010); Erskine (never)
How they got here: Stanford received one of the two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Erskine won the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship to receive the conference’s automatic bid.
Historical stats to know: Stanford in its four previous NCAA Tournament appearances has never lost in the opening round. In addition, three of the Cardinal’s last four victories in the NCAA Tournament have been sweeps. Erskine earlier this season was the first team from the Conference Carolinas to play an MPSF opponent as it upset Cal Baptist in five games.
No. 4 seed Lewis (23-7, 11-3 MIVA) vs. No. 5 seed Penn State (24-6, 13-1 EIVA)
Match vitals: 8 p.m. Tuesday in Chicago
Season series: Penn State won in four games in March
Last NCAA Tournament appearance: Lewis (2012); Penn State (2013)
Last NCAA Tournament title: Lewis (never); Penn State (2008)
How they got here: Lewis received one of the two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Penn State won the EIVA Tournament championship on Saturday to receive the conference’s automatic bid.
Historical stats to know: Penn State is on a four-match losing streak in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2010, but has not lost five consecutive NCAA Tournament matches in almost a decade. In addition, one more loss for Penn State would tie it with Ball State for the most all-time losses in NCAA Tournament history at 29. This will be the first time since 2004 that Penn State and Lewis have played against each other twice in a season.