The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team earned at-large selection to the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship as announced by the association in a selection show on Monday. It is the third postseason appearance in program history after the team also received berths in 2015 and 2010.
The Spartans (22-8) will travel to Hope College in Holland, Michigan, for the Holland Regional for the first three rounds of the tournament. CWRU will face 23rd-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point (22-10), an at-large selection from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, on Thursday in the first round at 4:30 p.m. The winner of the match will face the winner of the match between host and third-ranked Hope (27-2), champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and Bethany (20-7), champions of the Presidents Athletic Conference, on Friday at 7 p.m.
On the other side of the draw, 17th-ranked Transylvania (25-6) will face Mount Union (20-8) and Carnegie Mellon (23-8) takes on Pacific Lutheran (19-7). The winning teams will play at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in the second round. The Pioneers won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Purple Raiders were runners-up in the Ohio Athletic Conference, the Tartans placed fifth in the University Athletic Association, and the Lutes were champions of the Northwest Conference.
The two winners of the Second Round matches will face off with a berth to the national quarterfinal on the line on Saturday at 7 p.m. All matches in the first three rounds will be played at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland. A full schedule is below.
The national quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship matches will be held from November 29-December 2 at the Roberts Pavilion in Claremont, California.
Case Western Reserve placed third in the University Athletic Association after winning two of its three matches at the UAA Championship Tournament last weekend. CWRU has an all-time record of 1-2 in postseason matches, reaching the second round in 2015 after earning the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. This is the third postseason appearance for the team under the leadership of Head Coach Karen Farrell.
The Spartans and Pointers have never faced off in the two programs' histories, and CWRU has also never faced Transylvania or Pacific Lutheran. Case Western Reserve last played the Flying Dutch in 2019, falling in four sets at Carnegie Mellon, and have won their last three matchups with the Bison, sweeping Bethany in 2021 and 2019. Earlier this season, CWRU lost to UAA rival CMU at a neutral site and regional rival Mount Union on the road.
More information about the tournament, including links to tickets, live stats, and video, will be posted to athletics.case.edu when it is available.
Full Schedule:
Thursday, November 16 (Regional Quarterfinal/First Round)
Match 1: 11:30 a.m. – Transylvania vs. Mount Union
Match 2: 2 p.m. – Carnegie Mellon vs. Pacific Lutheran
Match 3: 4:30 p.m. – CWRU vs. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Match 4: 7 p.m. – Hope vs. Bethany
Friday, November 17 (Regional Semifinal/Second Round)
Match 5: 4:30 p.m. – Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner
Match 6: 7 p.m. – Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner
Saturday, November 18 (Regional Championship/Third Round)
Match 7: 7 p.m. – Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner
