13th-Seeded VB Headed to NCAAs

NCAA Bracket

NORMAN, Okla. -- Selected as the 13th overall seed, the Oklahoma volleyball team will be making only its fourth appearance in school history in the NCAA Tournament as it heads to Fayetteville, Ark., joining host school Arkansas (16-12), Oral Roberts (26-8) and Missouri State (26-8) in the four-team field set for this Friday-Saturday (Dec. 1-2).

Oklahoma is making its first NCAA appearance since 1997 and is slated to play Oral Roberts in opening round action at 7 p.m. this Friday.

In the same regional, Arkansas will face Missouri State at 5 p.m. The winners of both matches will meet on Saturday at 7 p.m. for a bid to the Sweet Sixteen in Honolulu, Hawaii.

NCAA Bracket | Tickets | 2006 Schedule

“It is such an awesome feeling to earn something that we have been working so hard for and had our mind set on,” head coach Santiago Restrepo said. “It is going to be a tough bracket because we have already faced two of the teams in the bracket in Oral Roberts and Arkansas.

"I'm excited to see how our team responds to a new challenge and a new part of the season. We are going to continue taking it one point, one game, one match at a time because that really worked for us in the regular season and we all know that anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament.”

In addition to the squad making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in nine years, Restrepo will be making his debut in the NCAA Tournament in his sixth year as a head coach at the Division I level and third with Oklahoma.

Restrepo has led the Sooners to a record-breaking season as they have recorded the highest winning percentage in school history with a 26-5 record while also finishing second in the Big 12 standings with a 17-3 conference mark, the highest finish ever by an OU squad.

Within the Fayetteville Regional, the Sooners are the top-seeded team while Arkansas follows as the second seed and Missouri State and Oral Roberts round out the four-team field as the third and fourth seed, respectively

The winner of the First/Second Rounds will advance to Regionals in Honolulu, Hawaii the following weekend (Dec. 8-9) against the four-team pod hosted by UCLA in Los Angeles. That four-team field includes the tournament's No. 4 overall seed UCLA, Utah, Michigan State and University of Alabama-Birmingham.

The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Nebraska at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., on December 14 and 16.

Tickets
Tickets will be available beginning at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Lady Razorback Ticket Office. They can be reached at 479-57-LBACK for more information.

Schedule
Below is the schedule for the First and Second Rounds in Fayetteville, Ark.

Friday, Dec. 1
Match 1 5 p.m. - Arkansas vs. Missouri State
Match 2 7 p.m. - Oklahoma vs. Oral Roberts

Saturday, Dec. 2
Match 3 7 p.m. - Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner

Arkansas (16-12)
Oklahoma faced the Lady Razorbacks in its first match of the year and dropped a tough five-game loss to Arkansas in the Sooner Legends Nike Invitational in Norman. Arkansas is making its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and is hosting early round matches for the first time since 1988. Arkansas has won every meeting against the Sooners and owns a 3-0 advantage in the all-time meetings.

Missouri State (26-8)
The Bears received an at-large bid after finishing third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Missouri State, formerly SW Missouri State, owns a 23-4 lead against the Sooners in all-time meetings with OU's last win coming on Sept. 3, 1988.

Oral Roberts (26-8)
OU also faced the Golden Eagles earlier this season as it swept ORU in Norman, but the Golden Eagles reeled off 15 straight wins following that loss and are headed to their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and first since 2002. ORU received an automatic bid after winning the Mid-Con Conference Tournament.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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