Iona to Play No. 12 Pittsburgh in First Round of NCAA Volleyball Championship
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The 2018 MAAC Champions, Iona College, will travel to Pittsburgh, PA for a first-round matchup with the No. 12 national seed the University of Pittsburgh in the 2018 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Iona (20-7) will take on Pitt (29-1) on November 30 inside the Petersen Events Center at 7 p.m. The University of Michigan and Navy are the other two teams heading to Pittsburgh to make up the four-team region. Michigan was an at-large selection out of the Big Ten, and Navy earned the automatic berth out of the Patriot League.
Iona made its only previous NCAA Championship appearance back in 2004.
Iona won the MAAC Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL on November 17. The Gaels went 16-2 in MAAC play during the regular season to claim the program’s first outright MAAC Regular Season Title. Seniors Claire Archibald and Emma Rose took home MAAC Player of the Year and Setter of the Year respectively. Head coach Patric Santiago was the BSN Sports MAAC Coach of the Year.
Pitt—the two-time defending ACC Champions—won its final six matches of the season after suffering its only loss to Duke back on October 28. The Panthers went 18-0 at home this season.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.