Championship Bracket

HADLEY, Mass. – NESCAC Volleyball Champion Bowdoin, runner-up Middlebury, and semifinalist Tufts have all been selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Polar Bears and Jumbos will play at Springfield College beginning on Friday, while the Panthers will head to Clarkson University for their NCAA regional action.

Match times, ticket information and live coverage for all games will be announced on institutional websites as soon as the information is known. All matches will be played Friday-Sunday, Nov. 11-13.

Bowdoin (26-2) is making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after the Polar Bears earned the conference's automatic bid by winning the 2011 NESCAC Volleyball Championship. Bowdoin will face Baruch (24-10), which is making its second-ever NCAA showing. Baruch won its way into the tournament by claiming the CUNYAC championship.

Tufts (25-5) will take on Roger Williams (28-3), the champion of the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Jumbos reached the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Williams in Friday's quarterfinals but fell to Middlebury on Saturday, 3-1.

It is the sixth time that the Jumbos will be playing in the national tournament and their fourth consecutive appearance. Last fall, host Springfield defeated Tufts in the Regional First Round 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-20). Tufts won the 2009 regional to make its first-ever national quarterfinal appearance.

Other teams that will be participating at the Springfield regional include the host Pride (31-2), champions of the NEWMAC, against Westfield St. (15-20) and Polytechnic (N.Y.) (23-14) against UMass Boston (26-4).

Middlebury earned its third NCAA bid this year (1998, 2010). The Panthers will head to Potsdam, N.Y. to face Colby-Sawyer (20-14), the champions out of the North Atlantic Conference. Also at the Clarkson regional will be the host Golden Knights (28-8) against Nazareth (26-12) out of the Empire 8, Southern Vt. (30-2) against Cortland St. (39-1), and Skidmore (27-8), the Liberty League champion over Clarkson, against Rivier (22-13), the GNAC champion.

Winners of this weekend's regional play will advance to the national quarterfinals, which will be held at Washington University in St. Louis on Nov. 18-20. For more information on the tournament, check out the NCAA.com website.