MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's volleyball team earned the program's 23^rd all-time bid into the NCAA Women's Volleyball Division I tournament, as announced on ESPNU on Sunday night.  The Waves will travel to #6-seed Wisconsin, facing Northern Iowa in the opening round on Thursday, November 29 at 3 p.m. PT at the UW Field House. 

Along with UNI and Wisconsin, Green Bay will join the Waves in Madison.  Pepperdine has a 2-1 all-time record against Northern Iowa, winning twice at home in 2000 and 2005, and falling on a neutral court in 2002.
 
For all championship site match times and more information about the championship, go to https://www.ncaa.com/championships/volleyball-women/d1.  Follow @WavesVolleyball for updates and check on PepperdineWaves.com for full results, recaps and more!
 
WCC REPRESENT
Five teams from the West Coast Conference made the tournament, leading with #4-seeded BYU.  PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's and San Diego along with Pepperdine all earned an appearance in the first round.  This is the best representation for the league since the 2012 season when six teams went to the tournament.
 
PAST WAVES IN THE SHOW
The last season the Waves made the tournament was 2012.  In that season, the Waves went 20-12 overall.  In 2011, Pepperdine made an NCAA Elite 8 appearance, finishing 6^th nationally overall in the final rankings and sporting a 25-7 overall record.
 
This is the 23^rd appearance for the Waves' all-time with the first-ever appearance occurring in the 1984 campaign under Head Coach Gary Sato, senior setter Blossom Sato's uncle.  Pepperdine has earned an appearance in 14 NCAA tournaments in the past 22-years.
 
THE SCOOP ON THE TOURNAMENT
National Participation
There are 330 NCAA member institutions that sponsor Division I Women's Volleyball teams and are eligible to compete in the National Championship. All 330 programs support over 5,500 Women's Volleyball student-athletes across the country.

Selection Process
The 2018 Division I Women's Volleyball championship provides for a field of 64 teams to compete in a single elimination tournament. Of the 64 teams, 32 teams will receive automatic qualification while the remaining 32 teams are selected on an at-large basis by the Division I Women's Volleyball Committee.

Selection Show | Sunday, November 25, 2018
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced the Sunday before the first round of competition at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

First and Second Rounds | November 29 - December 1, 2018
First and Second round competition will be held at 16 non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in single-elimination first round competition. The two advancing teams then compete against each other in single-elimination second round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the 16 second rounds advances to the regional round.

Regionals | December 7 - 8, 2018
Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites. At each site, four teams compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition. The two advancing teams then compete against each other in single-elimination regional final. The winning team from each of the four regions will advance to the DI Women's Volleyball Championship final site in Minneapolis, MN.

National Championship | December 13 and 15, 2018
The 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The national semifinals will be held December 13 at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m CT. The national championship will take place December 15 at 8:00 p.m. CT.

Follow @WavesVolleyball on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more.  Go to PepperdineWaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.