Swarthmore volleyball’s at-large means six locals make NCAA tourneys
Swarthmore’s postseason hopes were in the hands of the NCAA Division III women’s volleyball selection committee after the Garnet dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 14 Johns Hopkins in the Centennial Conference tournament championship match Saturday.
Well, the committee thought enough of Swarthmore’s resume to send the Garnet to the tournament for the first time as an at-large team.
Swarthmore was one of three local volleyball teams and six squads overall to qualify for NCAA tournament play in three sports.
Eastern and Cabrini earned automatic bids in volleyball by winning the MAC Freedom and Colonial States Athletic Conference championships, respectively.
Cabrini’s victory in the CSAC tournament earned it an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III men’s soccer tournament. Meanwhile, Swarthmore and Cabrini are headed to Division III women’s soccer tournament as automatic qualifiers after winning the Centennial and CSAC titles, respectively
Swarthmore (21-7) and Eastern (20-12) were assigned to the Stevenson regional in volleyball and could meet in the second round if both teams win in the first round. The Garnet takes on Radolph-Macon at 12:30 Friday, while the Eagles face Carnegie-Mellon at 3. Johns Hopkins, Kean, Hunter and Stevenson are the other teams in the regional. The semifinals are Saturday and the final Sunday.
Cabrini volleyball (29-6) is headed to Ohio where it will take on host Otterbein at 8 Friday night in the first round. The winner of that match faces the Ohio Northern-DePauw winner Saturday. Wittenberg, Penn State-Behrend, Juniata and Brockport are the other teams in the regional.
Cabrini visits Rowan in Saturday’s first round of the men’s Division III soccer tournament. If the Cavs win, they get the winner of the game between Johns Hopkins and DeSales in Sunday’s second round.
In the women’s soccer tournament, Swarthmore travels to William Smith to take on Susquehanna in Saturday’s first round. The winner gets the winner of the William SmithLasell game Sunday.
Cabrini is off to Newport News, Va., to face eighthranked Christopher Newport Saturday in the first round. The winner takes on the winner of the Lynchburg-McDaniel game in Sunday’s second round.