Anyone who follows women's volleyball – and, in Hawaii, that's more than any other place in the country – it didn't come as a surprise that the Rainbow Wahine will again be on the road for the start of this year's NCAA tournament.
Disappointed, perhaps, but not surprised.
Despite being seeded seventh in the 64-team field and again leading the nation in average attendance, UH was assigned to the USC sub-regional.
So, Hawaii will be the only seeded team in the country that will not be hosting a sub-regional when it takes a 28-3 record on the road for Friday's opening-round match against Atlantic Sun champ Belmont, which comes in with a mark of 25-7.
Unseeded USC, with a 16-11 record, will be hosting a sub-regional for a sixth straight year. The Trojans will open against the San Diego, which won its third straight West Coast Conference crown and finished with a 23-4 mark.
The reason why UH was again snubbed in its bid to host a sub-regional? The cost-conscious NCAA selection committee doesn't want three teams traveling to the middle of the Pacific.
As a result, UH has been shipped off Colorado State, Texas, Long Beach State and Louisville in each of the previous four years. Not surprisingly, UH hasn't reached the final four since hosting the first two matches in 2003.
Going to LA is better than being assigned to play out East and running top-ranked and unbeaten defending champion Penn State sooner rather than later. For that, I guess, we should be thankful. I guess.
________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com
No comments:
Post a Comment