INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will send two teams to the 2022 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. Interactive Bracket
The NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Committee announced the field of 64 teams today for the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship, and the SCAC champion, Texas Lutheran University will be joined by Trinity University which earned an at-large bid. Both teams are headed to Claremont, California for this week's regional while be hosted by top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
This marks the 17th consecutive tournament (2005-present) and 21st overall time that the SCAC has placed at least two teams into NCAA volleyball postseason competition.
At this weekend's conference title match, Texas Lutheran (27-9) defeated both AVCA third-ranked Trinity (25-4) and the host school Colorado College to earn its first-ever SCAC volleyball championship.
At the Claremont Regional, both Texas Lutheran and Trinity are on the same side of the bracket, setting up a potential all SCAC second round match on Friday if both can advance. TLU opens with University of Chicago (19-12) and Trinity follows with University of Puget Sound (14-10) with both matches scheduled for Thursday (times TBA).
Chicago received an at-large bid from the University Athletic Association (UAA) while Puget Sound won the Northwest Conference regular season title to claim that league's automatic berth.
Texas Lutheran is making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007 and third overall after defeating Colorado College in four sets, 25-23, 19-25, 25-13, 25-15, on Saturday to clinch its first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in program history and first conference championship since 2007. The Bulldogs are 2-2 all-time in NCAA Volleyball Tournament play.
Trinity earned its 27th tournament appearance and the program's ninth in the last 10 tournaments. The Tigers hold an all-time NCAA postseason record of 37-26, including a run to the national semifinals in 2019 and the national quarterfinals last year. The Tigers also earned a national-runner up finish in 1999 and a third-place finish in 2002. Trinity leads the nation in blocks per set (2.92) heading into the national tournament.
Regional competition will be Thursday-Friday, November 10-12.
The championship will be held Nov. 16-19 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa., with Saint Vincent College serving as host.
