Monday, November 26, 2001

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Wahine coach Dave Shoji learned today that UH is seeded No. 9.

Wahine get ninth-seed
in NCAA Tournament

They will take on host Washington
State either Friday or Saturday

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

The NCAA announced the seedings and pairings for the 21st annual collegiate volleyball championship this morning.

The Hawaii volleyball team received the No. 9 seed in the West Region. The Wahine play host Washington State either Friday or Saturday.

"It's a good draw considering all the NCAA had to do," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "It was a forgone conclusion as far as I was concerned."

Added senior Tanja Nikolic:

"We were ready to go to the East Coast. We were ready to leave on Tuesday.

"Washington State sounds easy, it's not too bad. I think we have a good chance.

"It was pretty fair -- a lot of top-seeded teams didn't host."

Also in Hawaii's bracket are Eastern Washington and Oregon State.

The top 16 teams in the nation were seeded in the 64-team bracket and seven will be on the road for first-round matches.

Undefeated Long Beach State is the No. 1 seed in the West region. Second-seeded Nebraska is in the Midwest Regional.

Pac-10 schools received four of the top 16 seeds with Pac-10 champion Stanford as the No. 3 seed. Fourth-seeded Southern Cal was sent to the East and will face Liberty in the first round. Arizona is the No. 5 seed and plays Eastern Illinois.

Eighth-seeded UCLA is in the same bracket as the Wahine. Should the teams advance, a meeting is possible in the regional.

The NCAA final four will be at San Diego State.