Nov. 30, 2008

BEAUMONT - History repeated itself for the third time Sunday as the Lamar University volleyball team received the news that they will head to Austin, Texas to take on the University of Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This is the third time in school history that the Lamar volleyball program will make their way to Austin for the NCAA Tournament. The first two trips came in 1983 and 84 when the Lady Cardinals took on the Longhorns after winning the Southland Conference tournament.

"I think it's a great place for us to play," said Lamar head coach Justin Gibert. "We have a lot of players from that area and we do a lot of recruiting there. We'll have a good fan base that will be able to be there and support us. Every year there are Cinderella teams in every tournament, and we can be very aggressive because we are obviously the under dog going in there. There are over 300 Division I teams out there, and we're one of the 64 left standing right now."

This is Lamar's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1993 when they took on Arizona after winning the Sun Belt Tournament.

The Lady Cardinals punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament when they won the Southland Conference Tournament with a 3-2 win over Texas State last Sunday. Lamar is 17-11 on the year and went 12-4 in SLC play.

"This is so exciting," said senior setter Ashley Todd. "I actually went and watched Texas play yesterday and it is going to be great playing there. I grew up watching UT play and to get the opportunity to play in Austin, in the NCAA Tournament during my senior year, is amazing."

Joining Lamar and UT in will be Wichita State and Rice. The winners of the first round matches will face off in the second round.