By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's volleyball team has been installed as the No. 3 seed for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Tournament, which will get under way Thursday in Tampa, Fla.
The Central Region champions will face No. 6 seed West Texas A&M in a national quarterfinal match at 11 a.m. (Topeka time) on Thursday at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Tampa..
The Ichabods are ranked sixth in the nation and will take a 29-5 record into their quarterfinal match.
Washburn celebrates its NCAA Division II Central Region volleyball championship Saturday night in Warrensburg, Mo. The Ichabods are the No. 3 seed for the Elite Eight tournament in Tampa, Fla. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn claimed the NCAA Central Region title with wins over No. 10-ranked Winona State and No. 1 Central Missouri in four sets and a sweep over No. 15 Concordia-St. Paul in Saturday night's championship match.
Washburn has faced West Texas A&M six times since 1989 and WU leads the series, 4-2.
The two teams last met on Sept. 14, 2019, with the Ichabods sweeping the Lady Buffs, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-14.
West Texas A&M (26-4) earned a trip to the NCAA national tournament with wins over No. 8 Colorado School of Mines, No. 22 Texas-Tyler and No. 3 Metropolitan State-Denver.
In the regional championship match, the Lady Buffs completed the reverse sweep over the Roadrunners, winning 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18 and 15-8.
Washburn is 2-2 all-time in the national tournament and advanced to the semifinals in 2007 and 2018.
All four national quarterfinals will be played on Thursday, followed by the semifinals on Friday and the championship match on Saturday.
Other quarterfinal matches will pit No. 7 Daemen vs. No. 2 Western Washington at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by No. 4 Hillcrest vs. No. 5 Gannon at 4 p.m. and No. 8 Augusta vs. No. 1 Tampa at 6:30 p.m.
