National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

February 24, 1997

Bracket-expansion matters highlight III volleyball talks

Issues related to bracket expansion dominated the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Committee's annual meeting February 3-6 in Kansas City, Missouri.

To accommodate the new 48-team bracket for the 1997 championship, the committee voted to maintain the current eight regions and select six teams from each region to participate in regionals. The top two teams in each region would receive first-round byes.

The eight six-team regionals would be conducted November 13-15 or 14-16. Quarterfinal matches would be held November 22, with the semifinals and finals being conducted December 5-6.

The committee also discussed the concept of automatic qualification to the tournament, citing the number of conferences sponsoring volleyball. However, it took no action, citing the Division III regionalization policy and the number of berths now available for each region.

The committee did vote to recommend that players selected to the Division III championship's all-tournament team be given an award. The committee believes this would enhance the significance of being selected to the team as well as the presentation of the team during the postgame ceremony. The committee will forward this recommendation to the NCAA Executive Committee.

In other actions, the committee voted to rank 10 teams in each region instead of eight. The committee also will recommend to the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport that the Division III membership be surveyed regarding NAGWS rules proposals.