The Lady Tigers of Jackson State University will face No. 2 seed the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota on Friday, Dec. 4., in the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball committee announced the matchup on Sunday, Nov. 29, for the 64-team field. Thirty-two conferences were awarded an automatic qualification, while the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket.
After claiming their third Southwestern Athletic Conference title in five years, the JSU Lady Tigers were among the teams selected. JSU (15-21) will face No. 2 seed the University of Minnesota (26-4) in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
Jackson State led the SWAC in assists and kills and ranks second in hitting percentage. The Lady Tigers will bring the conference’s top talent to Minnesota including SWAC Setter of the Year Jenna Siddiqui, SWAC All-Tournament MVP Mikayla Rolle, All-Tournament and All-Conference team member Taija Thomas, and All-Conference team members Alexsis Ford and Tyler Moorer.
Jackson State won the 2015 SWAC Women’s Volleyball Tournament Championship with a 3-2 (25-14, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13) win over defending champion Alabama State (Montgomery). JSU’s Rose Washington was named Coach of the Year and Mikayla Rolle was named the tourney’s Most Valuable Player.
The first serve in the NCAA tourney is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion on the campus of the University of Minnesota.