The Western Washington University volleyball team has been selected as the No. 1 seed in the West Region and will host the eight-team West Regional in the 2018 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championships in Bellingham this weekend, Nov. 15 - 17. Carver Gymnasium and WECU Court will serve as the host of the eight-team regional, beginning with four matches on Thursday in quarterfinal action. WWU will play No. 8 seed Cal State East Bay in the 7:30 p.m. match Thursday evening, Nov. 15 in Carver Gym. Two semifinal matches will be held on Friday, Nov. 16 (5 & 7:30 p.m.) and the West Regional Championship will be played Saturday, Nov. 17 night at 7 p.m. Ticket information and general tournament information is available by visiting WWUVikings.com/NCAAVB.
Here is the schedule for the NCAA Division II West Regional: West Regional Quarterfinals (Field of 64) 11/15 (Thur.), 12:00 p.m., Cal State LA (3) vs. Central Washington (6) 11/15 (Thur.), 2:30 p.m., Cal State San Bernardino (2) vs. Chaminade (7) 11/15 (Thur.), 5:00 p.m., Cal Poly Pomona (4) vs. Azusa Pacific (5) 11/15 (Thur.), 7:30 p.m., Western Washington (1) vs. Cal State East Bay (8) West Regional Semifinals (Field of 32) 11/16 (Fri.), 5:00 p.m., Winner 3/6 vs. Winner 2/7 11/16 (Fri.), 7:30 p.m., Winner 4/5 vs. Winner 1/8 West Regional Final (Sweet 16) 11/17 (Sat.), 7:00 p.m., Winner Semifinal #1 vs. Winner Semifinal #2 
The Vikings were one of 24 teams in the 64-team bracket that received automatic qualification after winning their second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship with a perfect 20-0 record in league play. “This is a tremendous honor for our program and I am really excited for this group of seniors that have really taken the program to the next level,” said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. “We are honored to serve as hosts and looking forward to providing a great student-athlete experience with the tournament in Carver Gym.” The Vikings (25-3) head into their seventh consecutive NCAA Division II Championship, and 13th appearance in program history, with a 25-match winning streak. After opening the season 0-3 with all three losses to ranked opponents, WWU has recorded 25 consecutive wins to set the program record for the third-longest active winning streak in NCAA II behind Spring Hill (28) and Wheeling Jesuit (26). “We are ready to get down to business tomorrow in practice and looking forward to the great competition ahead in Carver Gym,” added Flick-Williams. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches played on the campuses of participating institutions during a three-day period. Participating schools will be seeded according to their final regional rank. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the final site for the start of quarterfinal play. Teams advancing to the final site will be reseeded before quarterfinals. Regional games will take place Nov. 15-18 on the campuses of participating institutions. Quarterfinals are scheduled for Nov. 29 and semifinals for Nov. 30 at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The DII women's volleyball championship match will be played Dec. 1 as part of the 2018 Division II Festival. The complete 64-team bracket can be viewed, downloaded and printed on NCAA.com.
Situated in the middle of the Western Washington University campus, the newly-renovated Carver Gym has a capacity of 2,500 fans and has hosted several NCAA and conference level tournaments. Since 2000, the WWU Volleyball team has played their home games on a Sport Court surface while recording a 149-15 (.909) record. WWU was 10-0 at home in 2018, and has won 28 consecutive matches in Carver Gym.
Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUVolleyball), Instagram (@WWUVB) and Facebook (@WWUVolleyball).
