Nov. 27, 2011

2011 NCAA Bracket

Thursday, Dec. 1
5 p.m. PT - Match One: Cal vs. North Carolina
Firestone Fieldhouse - Malibu, Calif.
NCAA Tournament - First Round

7:30 p.m. PT - Match Two: No. 15 Pepperdine vs. Missouri State
Firestone Fieldhouse - Malibu, Calif.
NCAA Tournament - First Round

Friday, Dec. 2
7 p.m. PT - Winner Match One vs. Winner Match Two
Firestone Fieldhouse - Malibu, Calif.
NCAA Tournament - Second Round

BERKELEY - The California volleyball team has stamped its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid to the Big Dance - marking a school record 10th consecutive postseason appearance under head coach Rich Feller. The Golden Bears will travel to Malibu, Calif., to take on North Carolina.

"I'm very thrilled to be making our 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament," Feller said. "You can say what you want about the bracket, but I could not be more pleased. We get to stay in our region, bus down to Malibu and be very comfortable."

Pepperdine earned the No. 13 seed to play host to Cal, UNC and Missouri State. Pepperdine will play Missouri State. Both of the first round matches will take place on Thursday, Dec. 1. The winner of the Pepperdine-Missouri State match will take on the winner of the Cal-North Carolina match for the right to advance to the Honolulu Region.

This is Cal's 15th overall appearance in the annual postseason tournament. Under Feller, Cal has won first-round matches in each of its nine previous appearances and is 22-9 in the NCAA tourney. The Bears are 25-14 all-time in NCAA tournament matches and advanced the furthest in 2010, making it to the title match.

With the 3-1 upset win over No. 6 Stanford on Nov. 25, the Bears finish in third place in the competitive Pac-12. USC earned the Conference's automatic bid and UCLA finished second. Washington and Stanford tied for fourth place.

Winners of the second round earn a spot at one of the four regional sites - Lexington, Ky., Minneapolis, Minn., Gainesville, Fla., Honolulu, Hawai'i. Regional action is slated for Dec. 9 and 10. All the regional semifinal action will be streamed on ESPN3.com and the regional finals will be televised on ESPNU on Dec. 10. The national semifinals and championship matches are being held at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Dec. 15 and 17. All matches from San Antonio will be televised on ESPN2.

In a Nutshell: 2011 Cal Volleyball
•The Bears finished 26-6 overall and 16-6 in the Pac-12
•Cal posted a 14-4 record in the friendly confines of Haas Pavilion and went 12-2 in matches away from home (including neutral matches)
•Tarah Murrey - the squad's lone senior - paces her team with 4.27 kills per set
•Elly Barrett has handled the majority of setting, averaging 11.66 assists per set
•Kat Brown leads Cal with 1.21 blocks per set with Shannon Hawari right behind her at 1.13
•Robin Rostratter averages 5.17 digs per set with Tarah Murrey next in line with 3.24
•Overall, Cal is out hitting its opponents, .265-.155, as well as out block them, 307-241

Pac-12 in the 2011 NCAA Tournament
•Six teams advanced to the Tournament, including Conference champion USC
•It is the 12th-consective year the Conference has had at least six teams earn NCAA Tournament bids
•The seven selections are tied for the second-most in the country, behind the Big Ten's eight
•It is also the most for the Pac-12 since receiving eight selections in 2008
•The Wildcats and Bruins were placed in the Lexington Regional; the Huskies are the lone team in the Minneapolis Regional; Stanford is the only Pac-12 team in the Gainesville Regional; and USC, Oregon and Cal are in the Honolulu Regional

Cal in the NCAA Tournament
•This is the 15th trip to the Tournament in program history
•The Bears are 12-2 all-time in first-round matches, winning each of their 10 most recent first-round matches
•Overall, the Bears are 25-14 and 22-9 with Rich Feller at the helm
•Last year, the Bears made school history by advancing to the first-ever NCAA championship match
•Cal has made it to the regional round of competition nine out of its 14 previous trips to the Tournament, including five straight from 2006-10

Cal vs. the Pepperdine Field
•The Bears defeated North Carolina 3-0 in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament
•Cal is 1-0 against UNC in the NCAA Tournament and 2-0 all-time
•Cal swept Pepperdine 3-0 in a consolation round of the 1982 AIAW Tournament
•The Bears are 1-0 against the Waves in the postseason and 4-3 in program history
•The last meeting with Pepperdine came Sept. 9, 2006, when the Bears defeated the Waves 3-0
•Cal defeated what was then Southwest Missouri State, 3-1, on Sept. 23, 1983