Saints to Face No. 8 Seed Minnesota in First Round of NCAA Tournament
MAAC Sports
Loudonville, NY - The Siena Saints women's volleyball team learned their fate Sunday afternoon at the Turchi Theater in Loudonville. The Saints (22-12) won't have to travel very far when they square-off against the number eight seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers at UAlbany's University Gymnasium on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
"I think it's great for our players in the sense that it allows all of their family members and friends to come out and watch us play in the tournament," head coach Garvey Pierre said. "As far as our chances for beating Minnesota, it's the NCAA Tournament; we will win if we come out and play Siena volleyball."
Siena has had nothing short of another banner year. The Saints earned one of the 31 automatic bids into the 64-team NCAA Tournament after defeating the Fairfield Stags in thrilling fashion to win their second MAAC Championship in as many years on November 18 in Orlando, Fla. This is the first time the Saints have captured back-to-back conference championships in a decade, with the last time occurring in the 1995-1996 seasons. The Saints defeated the Stags, 3-2, after losing the two previous meetings with their conference foe earlier this season on October 7 and October 29, respectively.
The No. 10 nationally-ranked Golden Gophers (23-7, 17-3) travel to Albany after tying a school record for Big Ten victories with their 3-0 win over the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday.
The Golden Gophers are led by seniors Kelly Bowman, Meredith Nelson and Malama Peniata, who tied for the best Big Ten record by a senior class with a mark of 63-17 in conference play throughout their four-year careers at Minnesota.
The Saints are stacked with talent as they feature MAAC Rookie of the Year, Burgundy McCurty, First Team All-MAAC selection Christie Gustafson and Second Team All-MAAC Selection, April London. McCurty led the MAAC with a 38.1% hitting percentage in her freshman year, while registering 3.26 kills per game.
UAlbany will play Saint John's immediately following the conclusion of the Siena/Minnesota match up.