Florida Volleyball Hits Road for NCAA Tournament

Florida will travel to Dallas for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Selection Committee announced Sunday in revealing the 64 teams in the annual event.

Florida (15-11) plays No. 7 seed Rice (21-9) at 5 p.m. Friday. Following this match, No. 2 SMU (25-5) and Central Arkansas (18-11) will play the other matchup in the lower-left part of the bracket. The winners of the two will advance to the second round that is at 8 p.m. Saturday.

This is Florida’s 35th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the third longest active streak in the nation and its first under coach Ryan Theis. 

The Gators have been in the tournament 36 times since 1984. They have an 84-35 record in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Regional semifinal last year for the 19th time. 

The selection also marks Theis’ 15th appearance in the tournament (1 with Florida, 10 at Marquette and 4 at Ohio). He advanced to the NCAA Regional semifinals three times – in 2024, 2022 and 2018. Overall, Theis carries an 8-6 record in the first round and is 11-14 in tournament play.

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Volleyball, NCAA Tournament